


L'ora Delle Straghe

by UsagiTsuki181



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!, Twilight (Movies)
Genre: BAMF Skull, Cullens have Protagonist-Centered Morality, Multi, Original Characters Screw the Rules because They're Doing What's Right!, Reborn's a sparklepire, The Author Regrets Everything, The Author Regrets Nothing, The Author is Sleep Deprived, Volturi Aren't Bad but Just Misunderstood, morality tropes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2019-08-04 03:37:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 26,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16339097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UsagiTsuki181/pseuds/UsagiTsuki181
Summary: ‘Tis now the very witching time of night, when churchyards yawn and Hell itself breathes out contagion to this world - William ShakespeareWe’re the lost ones, that is what we are. Lost and laughing as we want to stay lost, much to the frustrations of all those around us that want to guide us back to their path of fate. We defy, and we shall always be defying, so now my question for you is, won’t you be lost and laughing with me? - anonymousScrambled eggs is just what he couldn’t help but compare himself to, for it was relatable in this instance. A shell cracked and ruined beyond repair, his insides a fried scrambled mess as he couldn’t quite remember, and mio Dio, did he try remembering. But bloodstained and bloodsoaked both, lying in a puddle of what he was so sure was his own blood, amongst that the blood of others, Reborn just couldn’t remember how he came to be the only wholly alive when all others lying surrounding him were corpses, few whole, many mutilated, and the many more mauled beyond any form of recognition.





	1. Awakening

**Author's Note:**

> ... I'm sorry. I hadn't meant to go on a hiatus, I just ... I've got no other excuse than the truth of, I had school and life keeping me busy.
> 
> That being said … I regret everything about this story, for so many damn reasons, up to and including it’s a crossover of Twilight. I’m not even sure what I was smoking/high on when I came up with this idea, so please, everybody, forgive me for writing this. I know it’ll be the first of its kind, because I’ve checked numerous times, and so I’m just going to hope it’s a damn good story I’m writing. Please, God, let this story be a damn good story that won’t make me regret my life’s choices later on!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reborn awakens to finding himself lying the only one alive within a bath of blood and corpses, and his memory of what had transpired on his most recent hit? Seemingly non-existent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you spot any grammatical errors, tell me. Other than that, as I'm just getting back into the swing of things with my writing, it's not going to be a great chapter, so ... #~#' Yeah, sorry about that ...

It’s funny how some things just aren’t, but yet we still label them as “funny”. And what was funny in this situation? Breakfast was what was so unfunnily funny.

He felt like breakfast, though more accurate to be said, he felt like scrambled eggs. Scrambled eggs is just what he couldn’t help but compare himself to, for it was relatable in this instance. A shell cracked and ruined beyond repair, his insides a fried scrambled mess as he couldn’t quite remember, and _mio Dio_ , did he try remembering. But bloodstained and blood soaked both, lying in a puddle of what he was so sure was his own blood, among that the blood of others, Reborn just couldn’t remember how he came to be the only wholly alive when all others lying surrounding him were corpses, few whole, many mutilated, and the many more mauled beyond any form of recognition.

While he had no need for repair, did Reborn still wince at the sudden vertigo he felt as he had tried getting up out of the puddle - though, truth be told, it was more like a small lake - of blood he had woken to finding himself laying previously unconscious in.

He wished he could say he’s seen gorier scenes, but that’s a lie, for when Reborn got himself up and out of that pool of blood he’d been laying in, was he ever glad for his strong stomach as the sight that laid all around him was quite the stomach-churner.

No words could ever describe the scene that would haunt him for many years to come as his eyes took in the much finer and less course details of those corpses and body parts laying around him. Reborn had seen much over the years, but _this_ ? This was a monster’s doing. Monsters, maybe, or better, hopefully, he thought, as he _really_ wouldn’t like to think that only one person could be capable of such a feat as what he was seeing.

A migraine that Reborn morbidly compared to a person driving a railroad spike through his frontal lobe via a hammer made the man grit his teeth, putting a chilled hand to his forehead, he nearly tripping on his own feet as he walked - though, it was more like stumbled - forward, trying to get himself away from this horrific nightmare of a scene. He did end up tripping, falling down on his front and landing on his hands. Reborn hissed as he felt the stinging of his skin being scraped when he did this.

To his bewilderment as he lifted a hand to see the damage, he saw not scraped and slightly broken skin, but as if rock had been scratched, a long mark like bleached chalk along his palm. He sat up on his knees, inspecting his other palm, finding a similar mark, perplexing the man even more. This wasn’t right, this wasn’t what should happen when skin gets scraped by concrete!

The pounding of his head was beginning to become second place to the pain that was the burning in his throat, what he’d never experienced before then. If he had to describe it, he’d say it was a mix of being thirsty and having a sore throat, all on a level unimaginable until experienced. He didn’t know what was causing this, and frankly, Reborn was too proud to admit that it scared him, but what he did know, he wanted it to stop, _now_.

He stilled, a single thought running through his head as Reborn caught scent of _it_ . His mouth began watering, the burning intensifying as he searched, a wild look in his eyes as he looked around him, trying to track what he was smelling, until his eyes landed on _it_.

He didn’t know what was drawing him to this corpse, other than perhaps the fact it looked like it was less mutilated, more whole than the others surrounding it. What he did know, what his subconscious was singing to him, was that it had to it what could stop the burning. Almost as if he were in a trance, he got up from where he was on the ground and walked over to the corpse, and upon seeing it closer, he saw as he knelt down to it, it was more … _fresh_ looking than the others, even while still having been dead for a good while.

Instincts overriding his crying out protesting thoughts, Reborn sunk inhumanely sharp teeth into the throat of the corpse, drinking its blood down.

 

* * *

 

“Poor guy,” a voice said softly, watching from a safe distance nearby as Reborn drank from the corpse. “It’s pretty awful when your first meal is in such a gruesome state, y’know?” “It’s better in the long run this way. The first meal’s always better when it’s not accompanied by dying screams, though, yes, it’d be better if it weren’t so cold,” a second, deeper voice said to the first, this second voice watching alongside the first.

Their red eyes gleamed brightly in the darkness of the night, the first of the two people licking their fingers, licking off the blood that coated them as they watched, thinking of their own first meal, and the second of the two, unreadable, their expression. “C’mon,” the second said to the first, who perked up and looked at the second person, “we can’t stay any longer if we’re to get everything done by the deadline.”

And as the two set off, as Reborn had his “first meal”, one could hear a bell tolling in accordance with the hour, its ringing as foreboding as the events of this night.

  
_‘Tis now the very witching time of night, when churchyards yawn and Hell itself breathes out contagion to this world_ \- William Shakespeare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes, that ending was rushed ...
> 
> I didn't plan on including the mystery two just yet, but~, well, couldn't resist, lol. ^w^' Sorry, not sorry~! =P
> 
> If you've spotted any grammatical errors, please point them out to me as so I can fix them. Also, I'd like to apologize again for the horrible chapter, and the shortness of it, too ... ^w^' I'm going to try turning out longer chapters in the future, but ... it's a work in progress. 
> 
> Until next time, people!


	2. Let's Take a Whiff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After his discovering he isn’t human any longer, does Reborn go to sort himself and his jumbled thoughts out at his abode, only to catch a whiff of something quite catching to his newly heightened sense of smell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... Okay, I'll be frank, I could've done a WAY better job than I did with this chapter. ... But meh, I honestly am at a loss here on how to write the "beginning" of Reborn's awakening and everything, considering what I've got in store has better details. 
> 
> Anyways, if you spot any grammatical errors, let me know so I can fix them, but otherwise, enjoy the chapter! ... That is ... #~#' I hope that you can ...

He vomited the blood back up quicker than he had drank it down, the icily cold life blood of the corpse he had partaken from. His stomach protested weakly, but he just couldn’t help himself. Reborn’s throat burned horribly, almost as if he had been screaming raw for hours on end, hours that he frowned at as he couldn’t remember. How much time had passed since his coming into this area where the target - …

Reborn’s gaze drifted over to the body of his target, the gunshot wound to the forehead his only positive for out of this Hellish moment, for at the very least, he didn’t miss his mark before going under the spell of whatever it was that had caused all this.

That’s something to take from the situation and be happy about, right? Being able to complete the task at hand even when everything was a complete and total brain f***ery, right?

Standing up from where he had relieved his stomach of that _God awful substance_ , Reborn grimaced as he wiped his mouth off of the remaining liquid, trying to get a grip on himself and all the thoughts plaguing his being.

Such as, actually, just what was his being now? _‘Because I’m definitely not human,’_ he thought, staring in disgust at the chilled blood he’d vomited back up from when he drank it down to quell the burning in his throat. While on a level it had, it hadn’t done much in all actuality, considering he was quite sure whatever it was he is now, he needed _fresh_ and above all, _warm_ blood to survive.

_‘At the very least, I’m not a Ghoul,’_ Reborn tried cheering himself up with. As if _any_ person dedicated to the art of cosplay wouldn’t know their medias? That’s just stupid to think he wouldn’t know his anime/manga, all things considered. Anyways, back to the point being, he was consoling his frazzled nerves with the fact he wasn’t a cannibalistic - which would it still be considered cannibalism if a Ghoul and a human are two different species? - supernatural creature, since he only drank down the blood, and didn’t consume any of the flesh of the corpse.

 

… aaaaand now he was feeling queasy all over again, only for a much different reason.

 

Reborn’s eyes narrowed as he began walking away from the scene, continuing in trying to sort out all off the thoughts going on inside his mind, trying to figure just what he was now. While the drinking of blood can be pointed to vampires, he was pretty damn sure vampires didn’t have stone skin, or rather, stone-like, since stone isn’t easily combustible unless we’re talking about flint stones, but then, they need to be struck against one another to light up a spark, so really, he was confused.

He didn’t know if he should be glad for the fact there weren’t any people out on the streets, which made sense with how late at night it was, or unnerved because of the heavy silence prevailing in the area as he continued walking to a safe house that was conveniently nearby. Pausing at the corner of a street, he looked up at the starry night sky, his thoughts going back to the sight of the massacre. He closed his eyes, trying to keep at bay the rise of that damnable burning in his throat as he let the wind breeze past him, ruffling his hair and clothes. His hair was damp from where the blood soaked into the dark locks, and the blood had thoroughly soaked into and ruined his clothes, too, alongside coating his skin a good deal, so he knew that should anybody see him, they’d see he was a real sight to behold.

Everything just seemed so surreal, and that’s saying something! But waking up in that pool of blood, finding himself among that horrific nightmare of a scene, a true bloodbath, … it was just much too much something he was sure nobody could expect happening to them until it happened.

He sighed as he gripped the brim of his beloved fedora, tugging it down to shade his eyes , though, considering it was night, there wasn’t anything much to shade his eyes from except the light of the stars and moon. He looked and saw the constellations above teasing him with their stories, the moon’s soft halo giving him a feeling of tranquility he often accustomed to that of a skilled user of Rain Flames.

Taking in the sight of the starry sky above him, smiling slightly at the thought that it could mean not everything was Hell in a hand basket, did he then still as the wind blew to him a scent - a scent that made the burning in his throat subside, but encouraged the roaring of his instincts. He turned his head, looking and seeing across the street from where he was at, an apartment building.

Standing lonesome on a balcony, leaning against the railing, was a figure he couldn’t quite make out due to the darkness shrouding the figure in the distance, but what he knew undoubtedly was, that _delectable_ scent was coming from that person, whoever they were. Reborn wondered just what it was that this person had to them that was quelling the burn, when at the same time, he still felt thirsty.

Deciding to go and see for himself, Reborn  walked across the street, as if in a trance as he let his instincts lead him to the door of the person he he saw on the balcony. Again, he didn’t know whether to be thankful for the fact nobody was awake at this time, since it meant getting into the apartment building was easy, but it was also unnerving, as surely he’d run into one person, that person just out and about because they wanting the chill of the night to liven them up, or something?

Coming to the door, Reborn paused as he was about to knock. Whatever he was now, he needed blood to survive, or at the very least, blood was the main substance he needed to survive. What if, whoever was on the other side of the door would …

What if he killed whoever was on the other side of the door?

While he’s a murderer, Reborn couldn’t stand the thought of killing without cause, as he did have some morals, you know. Scowling, he was about to turn away, walk out of the building and continue on towards the safe house, unwilling to quell the thirst if it meant killing another without a cause, even to the detriment of his own survival. Just as he was about to go, did he startle as the door cracked open, but he collected himself just in time as the door fully opened.

Reborn’s eyes widened as he recognized immediately the person in the doorway, the source of that delectable scent that lead him here, that had quelled the burn and encouraged the roar of his instincts.

“Skull?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... So it was somewhat longer than the first, I think? ^w^' Uh, lol?
> 
> If you've spotted any grammatical errors, please let me know so I can fix them up! 
> 
> Also, any theories yet on what's going to happen~? ^w^ ^w* I promise you, it'll be a real doozy when the ball really starts its roll! 
> 
> See you in chapter three!


	3. To Paint the Picture Bloody

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having tracked down the source of that quite catching scent, Reborn, startled by finding that it is Skull that is the source of the scent, learns just how and why Skull isn’t 1) freaking out over his being something ravenously bloodthirsty, and 2) seems to know exactly just what ravenously bloodthirsty beast Reborn has become.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comes dialogue comes a change in the way this story sounds. What can I say? I’m a sucker for playful interactions. Not a blood sucker though, ;). That’s Reborn’s job. 
> 
> … Okay, let’s be real here, people. I wrote portions of the story before I wrote other parts of the chapters, so in some parts of the chapters I’ll be getting posted, you’ll read a better-writ, clean text and in other parts, a more messy, less well written text as I try transitioning the scenes. Just to let y’all know, as well to as let y’all know, there’s going to be a bit of OOC in this chapter, but honestly, considering all things, I really do believe Reborn would act this way when put in this position of odd and odder. 
> 
> Oh, and hey, I deleted that Author's Note, but now I regret doing so ...
> 
> On another note, this is the longest chapter yet for the story, so enjoy that! And if there's any grammatical errors, well, y'all know what to do. ;)

Skull’s POV/Omniscient POV

 

Honestly? He’d seen much, _much_ freakier outside his apartment’s door, but while having seen that much, much freakier so many times before outside his door, Skull could honestly admit that out of all things that could continue showing its freaky self outside his apartment’s door, he _definitely_ hadn’t expected for to see Reborn, bloodied so badly, standing there outside his fifth floor apartment’s door, dripping blood on the welcome mat.

 

Seriously, it was the _fifth floor_ , and while the building was Mafia-owned, the landlady being a retired information broker and the tenants of her building pretty much either well-in-the-know, or relatives that know those well-in-the-know and are on “good” terms with it all, Skull knew for fact that a few of the tenants in the building had the tendency to wander around at night, and with the World’s Greatest Hitman all bloodied up like he’d just got out of a seriously bad bloodshed battle?! What the ever living f***?! Somebody should’ve seen that, right?! _Right_?!

 

And why the Hell was Reborn looking just as surprised seeing Skull as Skull was surprised in seeing him? Wouldn’t Reborn know this was his apartment already if he’s showing at Skull’s doorstep?

“ … I … Sh-Should I even bother asking?” Skull questioned as he stepped aside, prompting Reborn to enter the apartment with a - dare Skull say it - _hesitant_ step. Closing the door behind him - and deadbolt locking it too, because Skull was Helluva paranoid nut when it came to locking up after a certain incident he’d rather _never_ speak of -, Skull gave Reborn a worried look, eyeing all the blood on the man.

“Is _any_ of that yours?” Because Reborn having that much blood on him meant that whatever bloodshed battle he’d been in, there’s a _great_ chance he had gotten out of it injured, and already was this night a headache for him, Skull didn’t want to find out Reborn had a serious injury that didn’t get immediately looked at.

“I’m … not sure, actually,” Reborn’s voice was soft, startling Skull into a worried - ah, sorry, I meant _more worried_ frenzy. What the f***?! What the f***?!

“Reborn?” Skull questioned, his voice soft as he took a tentative step close to the taller man, and Reborn looked at him. Skull’s breath caught, as _oh_.

That wasn’t Reborn’s dark onyx eyes staring back at him, but _bright red_ , a shade that Skull was all too familiar with …

 

_‘Oh … Well,_ f*** _.’_

 

* * *

 

Reborn’s POV/Omniscient POV

 

“ … I … Sh-Should I even bother asking?” Asked even as Skull stepped aside, allowing for him to enter the apartment, concern lacing his voice, but also … resignation? Reborn was rather on edge, as even when he hadn’t known it was Skull, he’d been ready to leave, worried that he wouldn’t be able to control himself like he hadn’t been able to with the corpse.

 

He would have a hard time coping if he killed an innocent - okay, maybe not so innocent, considering you could never know when it comes to a - person, but if he killed _Skull_?!

Again, while he was a murderer ( _I mean, he’s a hitman, which is a synonym for murderer, and vice versa_ ), Reborn doesn’t like killing without just cause. If he lost himself to his instincts again and ended up killing Skull?

 

Reborn wouldn’t kill himself, oh, on that there was an assurance, but he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he’d lose himself and kill Skull. Death would be a mercy to him, a mercy he wouldn’t deserve if he loses himself to these monstrous instincts, instincts that of a monster he still wasn’t so sure of what  he now was.

 

Reborn could hear the door close behind him, and then he heard the sound of deadbolts being locked and mentally winced. _‘Great,’_ he thought sarcastically. Now he wouldn’t be able to leave unless he left through the window - _‘Which if it comes to that, my pride be damned,’_ he thought, grimacing - or make an excuse for why he had to leave, which most likely would just cause Skull to be even more concerned, and Verde, of all people, could testify just how badly Skull could get when the Cloud becomes _concerned_ about the welfare of others.

It was as if he were being burned, Reborn couldn’t help but feel, as he knew Skull was giving him a quick once-over, trying to look for any injuries, any sign of them, underneath all that blood that he was stained and soaked both with.

“Is _any_ of that yours?” Reborn didn’t know himself if any of it was, but he did think some of it was, considering he had woken up in a pool of blood, in the middle of what looked like a massacre that nearly rivaled the report over Mukuro and his group’s two massacres. “I’m … not sure, actually,” Reborn admitted, his voice soft.

He was, he’d admit to himself, _terrified_ by what had happened. He knew well and good there were monsters out there, but he had always believed growing up, that the only monsters out there, were people. Now, to come and find out that there was something else out there, that he just became through something he couldn’t remember due to the scrambled mess that were his memories? Yeah, _terrifying_ , no other way he could describe it.

“Reborn?” Skull’s voice was soft, worried, concerned for him, all of what he didn’t need. He needed to leave, to get away from Skull before he did something he regretted. His throat was burning again, was burning and he hated how he was becoming thirsty, yet not, mind f***ingly enough, as that damnably _delectable_ scent of Skull’s pierced through as the Cloud took a step close to him.

He looked at Skull, confused as to why the Cloud stilled in place, and Reborn could only worry while wondering just what it was that Skull had noticed that made him still as he had?

Skull then _smiled_ , unfreezing and walking a step closer, invading his personal bubble. Reborn tensed, “What do you think you’re doing, Lack -” He cut himself off as Skull laid his hands on his neck, he tensing as the shorter man’s fingertips were ghosting over his neck searchingly, and as they did this, Reborn knew Skull was feeling the startling cold temperature of his skin, the stone-like texture of his skin, what shouldn’t be.

He grabbed a hold of Skull’s right wrist, going to grab the other and then demand what the Hell Skull thought he was doing, when Skull said in a triumphant voice, “Found it.”

“Found … what?” Reborn’s eyes narrowed as he grabbed a hold of Skull’s other wrist, forcing both of Skull’s hands down, off of his neck, he demanding, “What did you find, Lackey?!”

Skull gave Reborn a look that he couldn’t read, before countering with a question of his own, asking far too innocently for Reborn’s tastes, “Did you eat yet?” Reborn let go of Skull’s wrists in shock, “What?” “Did you eat yet?” Skull repeated his question as he brought his hands back down by his sides. Tilting his head, Skull said to Reborn, “I guess the correct term would be “drank”, past tense of “drink”, but the question does still stand. I know for a fact that you _must_ be thirsty.”

Reborn looked at Skull as if _he_ were the one covered head to toe in blood. “What are you talking about?” Reborn gripped his hands into fists. “Skull … What did you find?!” Because that’s what prompted Skull into asking if he _drank_ yet, wasn’t it?

Did Skull know what monster he was? And if so, … _how_?!

Skull tapped the left side of his neck, more accurately, the skin over his jugular vein. When he did that, he also drew Reborn’s attention to said vein, before Reborn quickly averted his eyes. He’d rather not anything to encourage his monstrous instincts. “A scar, directly over your jugular. If any of that blood is indeed yours, well, we won’t have to worry about you being injured, externally or internally both, what your Flames couldn’t get to.”

“And just why is that?” Reborn had a sinking feeling as Skull crossed his arms loosely, smiling dryly as he gave a one shoulder-shrug. “That’s the thing I always found funny about vampire venom - it literally gives you a “fresh start”.”

 

* * *

 

 

Vampire …

He was a vampire?!

 

“No, that … that _CAN’T_ be right,” Reborn denied. He couldn’t be a vampire, because vampires, while they did drink blood, they didn’t have stone-like skin, which he was sure _wasn’t_ a vampiric trait! “I cannot be vampire!”

Skull gave him an unamused look, saying, “You are, so stop right there with the denial phase, Reborn. It really doesn’t suit you, y’know?” Reborn’s eye twitched, he glaring at Skull, snapping, “Vampires don’t have stone-like skin! And for that matter, vampires _don’t_ exist! They’re mythology!” Okay, so he could accept that monsters exist, but seriously, he had read Bram Stoker’s Dracula when he was a kid, and so he knew definitely that vampires did _not_ have stone-like skin!

“Not really, and while the DOV-Ds _didn’t_ have stone-like skin back in the day, the GM was pretty much seen more as a gift considering it was way better than exploding into dust …” Skull trailed off as he saw Reborn’s look. “What? Okay, so I still reiterate my earlier question of _have you eaten yet_ ? Because I’m going to go ahead and go out on a limb here and say you just recently woke up? Which by the way, _what the f***_?!”

“That’s been my question for the last hour,” Reborn growled, his eyes gleaming dangerously. Skull raised his hands placatingly, “Sorry, sorry.” Skull lowered his hands, giving Reborn another unreadable look that made the hitman wonder just what was going through Skull’s mind.  Skull sighed as he averted his gaze to the floor, he rubbing his neck in awkward shame.

“I’m being unfair, aren’t I? You’re having your entire world flipped, and I’m … not helping at all, only doing more damage,” Skull said, sounding rather ashamed. Reborn’s eyes widened a fraction, and he said, “No, you’re …” Skull looked up at him, smiling sadly as he lowered his hand away from the back of his neck, he dropping his arm back down by his side, “I know. I’m not doing anything but giving you a headache, huh?” Reborn shook his head, scowling, “No! You’re - Look, you’re just … Yes, tonight has been a … _difficult_ night, but it could’ve been a lot worse.”

“I know,” Skull said, his voice soft. “I’ve seen worse nights.” “And that’s … that’s something I’d very much like to know _how_ you know,” Reborn said, looking exhausted with everything then and there, he looking at Skull tiredly. “You say that I’m a vampire, and you’re talking about “DOV-Ds” and this “GM”, and ... you’re asking me if I _ate_ yet … Skull, I … think it’d be better if we both … sat down and talked about this?”

_“I think it would do us both a lot of good if we … sat down and talked about this.”_  He still could remember his mother saying that to him, back when he was a child, wondering why his father hadn’t returned home like he always had before that night. Reborn’s father had been a hitman, too, and it was that night that spurred Reborn into following in his father’s footsteps as a hitman, because while the profession was dangerous, while it was very likely he could get killed on a job …

Reborn didn’t care. His father had once told him that the monsters hiding in the dark wore the masks of people, and that it was his job to find them and put a stop to them, because the law could only do so much to fight against these monsters, and that just wasn’t enough in his father’s opinion, what always brought a sad smile to Reborn’s face whenever he recalled. So the hat literally got passed down from father to son, the “family business” continuing with him as he took over where his father left off.

And now he was a monster that wore the face of a man. Go figure. Maybe he should rewatch Hellsing? Hmm, for later thought, maybe … but for right now, he had to focus on _right now_.

“An all too perfect idea,” Skull said as he smiled softly at Reborn. “Just as soon as you _f***ing answer me on if you’ve had your damn first meal as a damn f***ing vampire_!”

And in no time at all, did Skull’s soft smile turn into a fierce scowl, he glaring fiery at Reborn, who in turn was taken aback by Skull’s outburst.

“I’m not dodging your question?” Reborn didn’t like how uncertain he sounded, and he definitely didn’t like how Skull’s scowl became only fiercer. “I’m not _trying_ to dodge your question, I meant to say,” he tried, only for Skull to look ready to attack - and _holy f*** Skull’s eyes were glowing!_ “I don’t see what the big deal is if I haven’t - !”

Skull grabbed him by his hair with one hand, pulling Reborn down to look eye-to-eye with him, the man surprised by the strength Skull possessed and briefly wondered if Skull wasn’t something other than human himself before Skull ordered darkly, “ _Drink_.”

Reborn was startled, and it showed on his face, before Skull tugged harshly on his hair, in the direction of where the Cloud had tilted his head to the side, exposing his neck. Reborn could feel his thirst making itself even more noticeable than before, his throat burning as he _needed to drink_ , and that corpse’s blood really didn’t satisfy at all, only tempered the burn, and couldn’t at all be called a first meal, anyhow.

He felt Skull’s grip loosen up as he drew close to the exposed right side of Skull’s neck, but Skull’s hand was still there in his hair. It … was rather soothing, the way Skull ran his fingers through his hair as he drew closer to the Cloud’s neck, he thought idly.

And with that thought in mind, did Reborn tear into Skull’s neck with his newly acquired fangs, moaning in ecstasy as the heat of his Lackey’s blood swept over his tongue, going down refreshingly like purified water, only _better_ , he couldn’t help but think as he took his fill.

 

* * *

 

Omniscient POV

 

Skull kept his breathing steady as Reborn drank greedily from his neck, gulping his blood down in quantities that made Skull feel lightheaded, and to keep himself from falling did he tighten his grip on Reborn’s shoulder, where he had laid his other hand earlier when Reborn began drinking from him;  the hand in Reborn’s hair still laid there, Skull’s running his fingers through the fledgling vampire’s hair having stopped when Reborn began to get _heated_.

When feeling the grip on his shoulder tighten, did Reborn’s hands go from where they’d tentatively been lying along Skull’s waist, to Reborn outright looping his arms around Skull’s waist, pulling him flush against his chest, as while his instincts were on high, Reborn still had enough capable thought to know it would be a _very_ bad idea to drop Skull, to let him fall. And truthfully? Reborn couldn’t deny he rather liked this position, Skull’s scent intoxicating to his sense of smell, the Cloud’s blood divine-tasting as it hit his tongue, and the rather delightful warmth of another person pulled so close to him, held so carefully in his arms …

He pulled back after swallowing down that last gulp, and Reborn eyed the blood that was still seeping from the wound, a tiny trickle but still, just enough to let his instincts prod encouragingly at the back of his mind, spurring him on. Experimentally, did he lick the wound, surprised by the shiver he received from Skull, who’s breathing had become labored at the end of Reborn’s taking his fill, the Cloud’s breath hot as it ghosted across the skin of his own neck, Skull having laid his head down on Reborn’s shoulder when the man pulled back.

Reborn smirked, doing it again, letting his tongue slide across the puncture marks, he lapping up the blood that had trickled down Skull’s neck, and Reborn was met with a whine for the action. “If you’re so sensitive along your neck, why did you force me to drink from you?” He taunted, causing for Skull to look up at him, that unreadable look back, “They never licked the blood off of my neck afterwards, s-so it wasn’t expected.”

Reborn stilled, his grip tightening as he nearly snarled, “ _They_?!” Skull tugged lightly at his hair, saying, “Calm down, it’s how I know without a doubt you’re a vampire, and why I’m experienced with this sort of thing.” Skull took a breath, inhaling slowly and deeply before exhaling shakily. He moved the hand lying in Reborn’s hair down to the man’s other shoulder, using both as leverage to push off just enough to pull back some, Reborn still having his arms looped tightly around his waist.

Looking eye-to-eye up at him, Skull said, “Firstly, I think I’m good. I can feel my Flames replacing the blood I lost, so you can let go of me now.” Reborn frowned, doing so but eyeing Skull warily just in case he fell. Skull couldn’t help but smile at the concern, before saying, “Secondly, while yeah, we’re going to talk, I think that should wait for until a bit later.”

“Later?! Lackey,” Reborn growled, his patience thoroughly stretched thin and ready to snap. Yeah, okay, that moment between the two was pretty damn good, he’ll admit, but it certainly didn’t take away from the fact that so far tonight, he’s woken up in the middle of a bloodbath, of mutilated corpses, found out he was some sort of monster before learning from _Skull_ , out of all people he could learn this from, that he was a vampire, and now he was being told he’d have to wait until later to get his answers, answers he wanted now?!

“Why the Hell should I wait?! I think I’ve waited long enough now for them?!” He growled, but Skull could only chuckle at him, as if he were amusing. That irked Reborn greatly.

“Don’t think about that now,” Skull said, before pointing over to where a short hallway led to a shadowed door. “What you really should be thinking about, is getting washed up.” Skull lowered his arm, grinning playfully and saying, “And this is why I don’t do carpeting. Blood is such a bother getting out of it!” Reborn, losing the scowl he gained at what Skull said, raised a brow before remembering, oh yeah, he was bloodstained and blood soaked both, and warily, did he look down and see himself dripping sticky droplets on the hard wooden flooring of Skull’s apartment.

With a minuscule wince did he mumble an apology, feeling quite like a child with how embarrassed he was at his lack of mindfulness of his appearance up until now, and especially his rude behavior when Skull didn’t have to let him in, in the first place. Skull waved both his apology and embarrassment off, however, saying, “No worries. Like I said, this is why I don’t do carpeting. So just go take a shower and stop your worrying, ‘kay, Senpai?” And Reborn had to marvel at how casual Skull was being with all this. Smirking once more, but with an edge of gratefulness to it, Reborn said, “Okay, Lackey.”

 

* * *

 

He really needed that shower. Reborn was more than pleasantly surprised to find Skull had a soap that would scrub bloodstains easily off of the skin, which when he thought about it as he did scrub the blood staining his skin off, he really shouldn’t have been so surprised by, as even without bringing the Mafia into question, Skull’s knowledge over vampires - and that comment that made Reborn growl lowly when thinking about it - did imply Skull had to have that soap for involving his knowledge on vampires. With his hair, he didn’t need anything special, just shampoo and water, but Reborn couldn’t help but find the shampoo Skull had in his shower unsurprising, considering he recalled Skull’s tendency to give Luce lavender-scented candles to “help her keep from stressing out, what’s bad for the baby”, what he’d tell them when they asked when Skull, he, and the others were the I Prescelti Sette still. Oh, did Skull love the smell of lavender, the ocean, and weirdly enough, engine oil. Reborn could never wrap his head around that last one, but he just chalked it up to another of Skull’s oddities.

Stepping out of the shower, did Reborn see that at some point, his clothes had been taken to either get washed or more likely trashed, considered how ruined they were as that amount of blood would _never_ get out easy, no matter the amount of bleach used. At the very least, he was glad that his fedora still sat perched on a hook of the towel rack, right where he left it when he disrobed. Getting a towel down from the rack, he began drying off.

He stared back at his reflection, and while initially going into the bathroom and seeing his reflection still there, startling him, he was also startled at what else he saw in the mirror, that namely being, what a mess he was - and his red eyes, too, but hey, he figured the monster would show one way or another. And they did say the eyes were the window to the soul, after all …

It was weird, seeing himself with bright red eyes, almost like rubies, but brighter. He guessed that was how Skull figured it out, and idly, Reborn wondered if Skull knew if they could be covered up? It was an instant give-away to his not being human any longer, and he couldn’t have that happening! He stilled as he heard the bathroom door’s knob click, the door creaking open, and there Skull was a load of towels in his arms, partially obscuring his face.

“Sorry, I didn’t think to restock the towel rack just yet, and so there might not be any, so I -”

 

And that’s when Skull saw.

And that’s when Skull saw Reborn, standing there in all of his naked glory, the man towel-drying his hair, or had been, as Reborn had stilled upon Skull’s entering the bathroom.

And if Skull saw something else he shouldn’t have? Well, he really should’ve knocked first, now shouldn’t he have~?  

 

“I - I -” Skull’s face was a shade of red that could put a tomato to shame, Reborn couldn’t help but think as the Cloud continued his staring for a short minute more before what next would’ve been something out of a cartoon happened.

Reborn could only blink as a purple blur sped past, Skull depositing the towels in the rack before speeding back to the door and slamming it closed behind him, a hurried apology with a coating of embarrassment being heard through the wood of the door.  

 

“ … I wonder …” The grin that took a hold of Reborn’s lips was frightening, to say the least, and we’ll just leave it at _may Skull’s sanity Rest In Peace_.

 

A few minutes later and Reborn had exited the bathroom with the towel he’d been drying his hair with now wrapped around his waist, he finding Skull with an embarrassed look on his face as he had a bundle of clothes in his hands, his face still red as he walked to the guest bedroom, undoubtedly intent on leaving the clothes in there, Reborn guessed.

He debated whether or not to let Skull know he wasn’t in the room just yet, but in the hall, as Skull hadn’t seen him yet, but Reborn couldn’t help but go along with the urge to do something mischievous.

Skull had stopped outside the door, and knocked on the door with one hand as he held the clothes now in the other, asking, “Oi, Senpai?”

“Yes?” Reborn smirked as Skull yelped, startled, and twisted, finding Reborn looming over him. “Y-You - B-But, why are you out here?! Not in there or the bathroom?!” Skull demanded to know, all the while his blush worsening, he noting the sheen of Reborn’s muscles as water droplets slid their way down Reborn’s arms, shoulders, and chest, stopping at the barrier that was the towel that covered only a good portion of Reborn’s lower body. Skull could feel his mouth go dry, never being this close before to another person while they were naked.

And was it mentioned that Reborn was looming over him? That Reborn was smirking that damnable mischievous smirk of his while standing there, leaned over Skull while only wearing a towel around his waist, the man’s well-built body on display with water droplets making the whole sparkling thing draw even more attention to the man’s muscles?

Skull_EXE has stopped operating. Starting reboot process.

“I’m out here because I was wanting to ask you about the clothing situation, actually,” Reborn said, raising a hand to the clothes held out in front of Skull like a shield of sorts, amusingly enough. He tapped the top piece of clothing, a shirt, Reborn noted, with his pointer finger, saying as he kept his gaze locked on Skull’s wide eyes, “You really think your clothing is going to fit me?”

“They’re not my clothes,” Skull blurted. Reborn lowered his hand, frowning. “What?” Because seriously, _what_?

“Well, you’re about the same size as this friend of mine, Felix is, and since these are his clothes …” Skull said, trailing off, and Reborn raised a brow, wondering at the jealousy that had begun burning a pit in his stomach at hearing about this _“friend”_ of Skull’s. “A _friend_ of yours just has his clothes in your apartment?” Skull rolled his eyes, huffing and saying, “Yes, Reborn, me and Felix are just friends. It would be really, really, _really_ weird for if me and him tried to start a relationship, for numerous reasons, and honestly? One of them being is that we see one another as brothers, so … yeah. I’m not into incest, even if there’s no actual blood relation there to make any potential relationship incestual.”

Reborn couldn’t help his amusement at Skull’s defense, saying, “Okay, well then, you’re sure he won’t be minding my wearing his clothes?” Skull shrugged, “Felix doesn’t care when I wear his clothes, even when I have other things to wear, so why would he mind you wearing his clothes if you haven’t anything over here of mine that would fit you, and I don’t want to see you in the nude?”

Ignoring his instincts telling him to hunt down this “Felix” and murder the guy for letting Skull wear his clothes when he didn’t have need to, Reborn smirked, “Funny, what with how you were staring, I thought you _liked_ seeing me in the nude, Lackey?” Skull stared at Reborn for a long minute of a moment before smacking him across the face with the pajamas, which while didn’t hurt, _did_ make Reborn splutter as _did Skull really just seriously do that?!_ Which was yes.

“Just go and get dressed, y-you _idiota pervertito_!” Skull snapped, tossing the clothes at Reborn before going and stomping off out of the hall and into the living room, his face aflame from embarrassment.

Reborn frowned, he having been able to catch the clothes before they’d fallen to floor. Couldn’t Skull take a joke?

 

* * *

 

Coming out of the guest bedroom after changing into just the pants, as no way was Reborn wearing this Felix guy’s shirt, Reborn came into the living room, finding Skull sitting down on the couch, a leather-bound journal with a yellow ribbon in his hands, the Cloud twirling a pen in his hand rather skillfully, actually, as he was undoubtedly reading something Reborn was becoming idly curious over.

“And what’s so interesting?” Reborn questioned as he walked over, taking a seat by Skull, who had raised his head to look at Reborn, only to still at seeing the other man shirtless. Skull closed his eyes, mentally counted to ten, opened his eyes, and wondered as he saw Reborn sitting there next to him, shirtless, if the man liked causing headaches for the fun of it, or considered it his unpaid side job. Maybe a hobby, because Skull was damn sure Reborn got his kicks from causing headaches for others.

Well, he knew for years that Reborn got his kicks from causing headaches for others, but did he have to seriously do _this_ to him?! Seriously, what was Reborn’s deal?! Skull frowned, hoping what Reborn would tell him about how he woke up to how he got to the apartment in the first place would shed some light on that.

“It’s nothing much, just nevermind it for right now,” Skull said, causing Reborn to frown but relent, as they really did have a lot to talk about anyhow. “Right … Well then, where should we begin at?” “Maybe with what happened?” Skull suggested, frowning as he gave Reborn a worried look. “Because seriously, what happened?”

“Ah, that …” Reborn grimaced, he recalling when he had woken up to find find himself no longer human. “It was supposed be a simple hit, nothing that could’ve gone wrong that wasn’t already planned for. The last thing I remember before waking up, was that I heard … screaming.”

Skull’s stomach began to do flips. “Screaming?” Vampires had to be inconspicuous when hunting, and screams were definitely _not_ an inconspicuous thing. “How - … How many people were apart of your team?” “Five,” Reborn said, closing his eyes as he recalled them, the five people he’d been assigned to work with on this hit, five people that wouldn’t ever get to see their families ever again, their friends and loved ones.

“Five,” Skull sighed, already adding things up in his head. “And how many people were there around the target, both guarding him and just innocently in the way?” “A security detail of nine men, and … six … six bystanders,” Reborn frowned, reluctantly recalling the number of bodies had been less than that, oddly, but the amount of limbs proved that even if some did survive, they didn’t make it out unscathed, but …

Reborn was pretty damn sure he was the only one alive out of that whole mess, and even then, he couldn’t technically be called alive anymore, now could he?

“Twenty,” Skull muttered, mulling the number over in his head. “It … Okay, continuing on, what happened when you woke up?” “I woke up in a pool of blood, which explains why I was so soaked and stained with blood, but … I’m not sure why I woke up there in the first place, and especially …” Reborn paused. “Especially so unscathed when everybody else …” “Yeah, that … I need to know, were there any … scorch marks?” Skull had to know.

“I - I’m not sure,” Reborn grit his teeth, saying with much frustration lacing his voice. “I only woke to finding so much blood covering the ground, and so many corpses, their limbs … all over the ground. It’s strange, but … I think - no, I _know_ that it was a massacre, but … are … are vampires able to kill that many people all on their own?”

Skull snorted, leaning back against the couch, “Humans are mammals, which are animals. A vampire is a predator, what some believe the ultimate predator for humans, considering that’s the main source of food, the _sane_ option to survive on.” “Sane option?” Reborn questioned. “ … I’ll tell you later, as I still need to hear the rest of it, of what happened before you came to my apartment’s doorstep.” “Right,” Reborn sighed. “ … I … lost myself.” “Huh.”

Reborn gave Skull a sharp look, asking, “What?” “You losing yourself isn’t anything to get ashamed over,” Skull said, giving him a look. “Fledgling vampires have a hard enough time as is when it comes to their blood lust, that it amazes me how you’re restraining yourself. I’ve only ever known one other vampire to be able to do that, but you’re … not like him. You wouldn’t have his compassion for humanity, so I’m not sure why you are so in control, better than most fledglings are. … Maybe … it’s because you know when to kill?” Skull considered. “I mean, most vampires started from civilian lives, and so don’t know when to tell if it’s the time to act accordingly and when it’s the time to back down?” Reborn considered that, “Maybe? But, … I lost myself to my instincts, and … I did drink … from a corpse.”

“Yeah, now I’m glad I got you to drink my blood,” Skull said, grimacing. “Some fledglings have had that as their first meal, corpse blood, which while doesn’t give them as much a trauma as if it were a live human, is still pretty traumatizing. Not to mention, does nothing to help the thirst.” Reborn deadpanned, “I had no idea.” Skull chuckled, “Sarcasm noted, Senpai. But, anyways, you were saying?”

Taking an unnecessary breath, Reborn continued on. “After leaving that horrific nightmare of a scene, I began making my way to a safehouse that I knew to be nearby. As I was walking, I found it odd how nobody was out, because even while it was so dark out, surely somebody should’ve been out on a run, or something similar?” “I dunno, I mean, the supernatural is supernaturally weird, is all I’m saying,” Skull said. “Fun,” Reborn huffed. “As I was heading towards the safehouse, I caught whiff of something …” he considered his next choice of words, not wanting to weird Skull out as this was already an uncomfortable night, but - “I smelled something _delectable_ , which as it turns out … was you.”

Skull’s eyes widened in surprise before a considering sort of look entered his eyes. Reborn could only hope Skull wasn’t unnerved by that piece of information. “I tracked the scent down, my instincts urging me on, and that’s when I came to your doorstep.” “So that’s why you were so surprised in seeing it was me!” Skull said, looking shocked. “Yes, as I hadn’t expected to run into - well, anybody I knew, that was for sure.”

Skull frowned, “I … I need to speak with some others that are also in the know over the … truth about vampires, but, and if I’m right, the Volturi aren’t going to like it, not one bit …” Because already, Skull was seeing a really big detail missing from Reborn’s story that put him on edge.

 

“The Volturi?” Reborn questioned, an ominous feeling making his stomach do flips as he heard that name.

 

“The Volturi, like the Vindice, are the lawmakers, the peacekeepers of their world. The Volturi’s laws are pretty common sense-like,” Skull said, beginning to write something down into the journal. Reborn grew curious over what it was that was written down in the notebook, had been curious but pushed his curiosity in telling his “awakening” to Skull, and so peered close to take a look, but then was pushed gently away, rather good-naturedly, by Skull.

It was odd, how he hadn’t reacted like he’d normally. Reborn couldn’t place why, but, he found himself … _warm_ , dare he say, when Skull’s hand touched his arm. He was thinking too deeply into the simple action, the perplexing feeling, that might not be so perplexing after all as Skull was still very much alive, human, and so with human warmth, so it made sense to feel that warmth when Skull touched him, right? Right.

“And you know their laws?” “Yup. The Volturi raised me,” Skull said, smiling fondly as he remembered. “I was apart of their guard for a number of years before leaving, the only human to ever be apart of their guard, but that was out of circumstances, really.” Skull sighed longingly, “I really miss them, y’know?” Reborn saw the longing in Skull’s face, his heart, no longer beating but somehow, somehow still able to manage being tugged, he remembering his father and mother, his siblings, the family he had left behind and had lost a long time ago.

“Yeah,” he said, his voice soft. “I do.” Skull looked at Reborn and gave a sad smile, about to say something, but when he opened his mouth to do so, instead of words, a yawn that he quickly covered due to shock from yawning so suddenly came out instead.

Reborn then realized, it had been early evening when he’d shown at Skull’s apartment’s doorstep, and now, it was well past midnight, much too late - or rather, early - for Skull to still be up with even a scant amount of energy to spare. And with that being said, what was with Skull’s being out so late on the balcony? That made no sense to him, but he couldn’t very well ask Skull, as because Skull had the startling tendency to close down in on himself if he were asked anything that at all could be considered a personal question.

“You need sleep,” Reborn said, rising from the couch, giving Skull a hard look. “You’ve been up a good couple of hours already. You need sleep, Lackey.” Skull whined as he got up off of the couch, grumbling about how he wasn’t tired.

Reborn wasn’t at all amused, saying, “I can _and will_ carry you to your bedroom, Skull, if you keep up your complaining. You wouldn’t let drop my drinking any blood until you got me to drink yours, and I know that even with your Flames, you won’t be getting your energy back until you’ve had a good rest.” Skull sighed, “Fine …”

Skull had set the journal and pen down on the coffee table, and after doing so, did the two exit the living room, entering the hall that led in the back of the apartment where the bedrooms were. Skull paused outside of his door, looking pensive.

“What is it?” Reborn questioned. “It’s nothing,” Skull said, shaking his head lightly. “Um, … vampires don’t actually sleep? So, if anything … there’s a lot of music and stuff in the guest bedroom, so if you get bored …” Reborn sighed, “I’ll find something to do. But I’ll keep it down, I promise.” “ … Alright then,” Skull said. “G-Good night …” “To you too,” Reborn said before heading into the guest bedroom.

A half-hour in, he had just started to get settled when he heard a scream coming from Skull’s room. He ran out of the room, was thankful that Skull hadn’t locked his door in case he needed to ask him something in the late/early hours of the night/morning - which Reborn really wondered if Skull had happen enough to make that a regular thing -, and he paused with what he saw.

Skull was leaned over, reaching for a bottle of water and bottle of pills, what Reborn saw with his newly enhanced vision being sleeping pills. Skull gave him an acknowledging look before going back to uncapping both bottles, popped the prescribed number of pills into his mouth, and swallowed them down with a gulp of water, grimacing at the chalky aftertaste the pills left behind.

Reborn walked over, wondering what that was about, the scream, as Skull placed both now recapped bottles back on the bedside table. “You take sleeping pills?” “Like nightmares aren’t a usual occurrence in the Mafia,” Skull snapped irritably before wincing. He ducked his head down, mumbling an apology. Reborn didn’t take it personally, saying, “It’s fine. I am curious though, of if you’re okay?”

Skull looked at him in surprise before he sighed, running a hand through his hair. “No, I … I can’t sleep. It’s hard to for me, sometimes. Most times. So I’ve got these pills. I did think that my nightmares wouldn’t act up tonight, considering they don’t usually when I have guests over, but guess my hopes were all for naught, huh?”

“ … Skull, what are your nightmares about?” Reborn asked as he sat down on the edge of the bed, opposite of Skull’s side. “I - … That’s …” Skull’s eyes hardened. “That’s not any of your business.” “Alright, fine,” Reborn relented, almost too easily Skull couldn’t help but feel suspicious over. “I think I’ll stay in here tonight,” Reborn said, giving Skull a look that just _begged_ him to try and challenge him over it.

Skull was shocked, before huffing dismissively. “Sure, fine, whatever.” He got moody when on those pills, as they were to help induce sleep, and so a moody Skull was a well on his way to sleeping Skull. Reborn smirked, knowing that if Skull was having a nightmare now, he would be there to see it and put a stop to Skull’s would-be-fitful rest.

Skull ignored the dip of the bed as Reborn laid down on the previously unoccupied side of the bed, but he did feel better, considering what his nightmares usually consisted of … were of him being alone.

Meanwhile, Reborn was wondering just why he was spurred on by his monstrous instincts to stay the night in Skull’s room. Weren’t vampires ravenous bloodsucking demons? Weren’t they supposed to _not_ have instincts that spurred them to care enough to keep an eye on another person in case that person got nightmares that they needed to be woken up from? Reborn sighed, not understanding it all, why he felt so strangely around Skull, why he’d been … _off_ around the Cloud all throughout the night since first arriving at Skull’s doorstep.

Reborn couldn’t help his amused chuckle as Skull soon began to lightly snore, turning facing away from him, as soon as the shorter man’s head hit the pillow. Such a defiant child Skull could be sometimes, even when it was for a good reason, albeit, a sad reason, such as having nightmares that made you wake up screaming and you’d very much like to avoid having them was.

Reborn knew he couldn’t let his instincts take over as much as they had when he first woke in that bloodbath, and if not because he was afraid of hurting, or more likely killing another for their blood, it was because Reborn was worried that he’d do … well, he was worried he’d do something more than just a bit regrettable to Skull if he let his instincts continue having their way.    
But dammit, was Skull’s scent just so damn delectable, Reborn just couldn’t help himself, tightening his grip on Skull’s lithe waist when he had let his arm lie over it, and he pulled Skull slowly close, closer to him. He had to have more of that tantalizing scent, for it smelt _so good_ , and it calmed him, Reborn found, which he also found so confusing, too. Ah well, it was just another question to ask later on. Later on in the late afternoon, if he got his say. Skull had fallen dead-like asleep once his head hit the pillow, so Reborn could only imagine just how tired the Cloud was!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I seriously don't understand why my previous "End Notes" got deleted, as last I saw before updating the chapter, it had still been present, but oh well ... 
> 
> Anyways, while this chapter could've been written better - much, much better -, I'm still glad with the turnout! It was pretty difficult, figuring out the "reveal" to Reborn what he is, as honestly? I tried writing rational, I tried writing with restraint, but in the end, it was all weird ... at least I can console myself with the Reborn-drinking-Skull's-blood scene! Now that was fun to write, lol. 
> 
> Regarding the "DOV-Ds" (which is pronounced like "DOVE dash D", and even when pronounced as "Dee-Oh-Vee dash Dee", it's fun to say! And is also short for "Demonic Origin Vampires-Direct), and the "GM" (which is short for "Gene Mutation"), I'm working on a physiological explanation for why the sparklepires sparkle. It really irks me there was never any explanation over that, which was a reason why initially I despised Twilight so much. If you're going to make vampires and call them the original vampires, give a d@m^ explanation over why the legends are wrong from what the vampires are written as "really" being! Is that too much to ask for?! Anyways, the explanation over that will be in later chapters.
> 
> Also, I'm wanting to see if anybody will be able to figure out what's with those two mysterious figures and their "deadline", and so I'd like for y'all to keep in mind the laws of the Volturi, found at http://twilightsaga.wikia.com/wiki/Volturi. 
> 
> And as always, if you spotted any grammatical errors, please tell me down in the comments as so I can fix them, as I don't want anything to take away from the story, especially bad grammar. 
> 
> See y'all in the next chapter!


	4. Little Talks and Stopped Clocks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New discoveries unveil a rather disturbing sketch to the blood-painted picture as the relevance of a most important law of the vampiric world holds the key to understanding just why it was Reborn had awoken to finding himself existing in limbo as a not-quite-alive yet not-quite-dead Childe of the night. Meanwhile, Skull is contemplating his next move now that he is with the Sire-lacking Childe that is his Senpai.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes, I wanted this to be a Christmas present of a chapter but missed that, as it is now 12:11 a.m, December 26th, 2018 where I'm at currently. I'm sorry about the lateness of this chapter, as I had told Zero-1307 I'd have it in by Sunday at the soonest, Monday at the latest last week, my exact words, and I failed to keep to that ... -.-' 
> 
> Well, thankfully, I'm back in business with this chapter! I'll be honest, I thought that the chapter would be much longer after editing it, but when I did get finished editing it, it turned out to be on the short side. *Sigh*. That's what I get, I guess, for editing most my work in this chapter. 
> 
> Well, y'know my thing with grammatical errors!

_“Oh, dear child, if you were to be granted power, power amongst your wildest dreams, of what would you do with it?”_

_“_ **_…_ ** _I am quite certain, I’d like to play wicked games of torment play all my own.”_

_“Marvelous! Now, dear child, if I were to offer you, say, tutelage in concern to this power that you’d not get until you were older, what would you be willing to do with this offer?”_

_“Now that, sir, is just unfair. How could I refuse such a generous offer, if it is indeed being offered?”_

 

* * *

 

Icy marble yet so dislike stone was a feeling quite familiar to Skull, something what was why he didn’t startle awake initially when feeling pressed up against him, lying behind him in his bed; his brothers and sisters had no shame when it came to cuddling, with him, at the very least.

He _did_ startle, however, when the memories of last night came back, as he heard the soft grumbling of annoyance from a _very_ familiar voice at his moving around, trying to sit up and get out of bed.

“It was well past midnight when you went to sleep,” Reborn huffed, grumbling, what startled Skull into snapping his head over his shoulder to look at the fledgling vampire in utter bewilderment, seeing him there, the one _cuddling him_. “So go back to sleep.”

Skull’s eye twitched at the commanding voice, and having not had his fill of caffeine just yet, snapped, “You try sleeping when someone’s got their morning wood pressed up against you while spooning you from behind!”

 

_5, 4, … 3, 2 … and … 1._

 

Skull’s face rivaled that of hot magma with the shade of red he was now sporting when realizing just what it was that he’d said, and it was what he had said that had caused Reborn to smirk mischievously, a gleam in his red eyes. “For such a modest dresser, you’re awfully dirty a thinker, hmm~?”

Reborn should’ve seen that pillow coming.

Skull had turned fully and began hitting him with a pillow, what Reborn really should’ve expected as Skull had his moments of pure and complete childishness, and tended to react childishly when highly embarrassed. Honestly, it was too cute sometimes, not that he’d say.

“You. Shut. Up!” Skull said in between smacking Reborn with the pillow, the fledgling vampire defending himself from the blows easily when after releasing his hold on Skull and putting a bit of space between them. He grabbed ahold of the pillow and said when he pulled it easily out of Skull’s hands, “Are you done now? Because I’d really like for to get my answers.”

“Almost,” Skull said. Reborn raised a brow before he blinked at the flick to his nose, something he narrowed his eyes at. “Did you just - What the Hell, Lackey?!”

 

So it would be a bit before they’d move the conversation to the kitchen …

 

* * *

 

After their having a conversation on bed space boundaries and how to avoid getting thwacked on the nose, they moved their conversation to the kitchen, where Skull had gone to the cabinets and pulled out - two mugs?

Reborn raised a brow, wondering about that as he knew thanks to the lack of needing to _breathe_ that he really didn’t need to eat, either, considering it wasn’t his stomach that told him when he’d need to eat, but his throat, and even so, that was more drinking than eating. Unfortunately, as he had so many hours to wonder over his new existence, he found himself slightly depressed that he couldn’t have espresso anymore, but got over it quickly ( _because he might have found himself quite the replacement drink …_ ).

Skull began to brew the coffee, saying as he had his back turned to Reborn, “Anytime now, y’know, you can start asking.”

Reborn blinked before frowning, wondering just where to start with all the mess of questions he had thought up during the time Skull was asleep. Well, where best but the beginning?

“How had you known that I was a vampire, when mythology has always said vampires were … less glittering?” Reborn deadpanned that last bit, grimacing as that had been oh so pleasant finding out when sunlight filtered into Skull’s bedroom, and instead of gaining a burnmark, Reborn found his skin _sparkling_.

 

The World’s Greatest Hitman didn’t do sparkly skin, unless it was for cosplay. But he wouldn’t do it on a basis! Reborn _didn’t_ and _doesn’t_ want to do sparkly skin on a basis, for that matter!

 

Skull gave a snort as the coffee pot finished, and he began filling the two mugs up, having used very dark roast coffee beans for espresso because hey, Reborn was a jerk to him a lot, but Skull couldn’t deny after last night, the guy deserved to have something from his old life. Reborn, seeing this, wondered why Skull was making two mugs, as he knew about vampires, so he knew that they didn’t need anything but blood, right? But then he saw Skull open a drawer and pull out - a syringe?!

A syringe indeed, it being a syringe for drawing blood, a capped needle looking quite sharp and lethal-looking, a small square packet, and a tourniquet, even! … Reborn could only resign himself to the fact but of course Skull would have those in his kitchen, considering his … whatever the vampires that drank from him on something of a basis … drank from him on … something of a basis.

Skull had impressive veins running through his exposed arm, exposed from when he had pulled his shirt’s sleeve up, the Cloud’s veins not too thick, but yet not too thin, perfect for drawing blood from, the great medium. Reborn watched as Skull tied the tourniquet expertly just above where the veins came closer to the surface mid-arm after having found presumably a good vein to draw from. Skull took the small square packet and opened it up, revealing the contents to be a alcohol wipe, which he used to cleanse the venipuncture site, before disposing of it in the garbage bowl that sat idly on the counter. Skull took the syringe and uncapped the needle, wordlessly puncturing his own skin, not flinching as the large, sharp needle, so lethal-looking, went into his skin. He began to lift the plunger of the syringe and Reborn watched as if in a trance as Skull’s blood entered the syringe’s tube.

After the syringe’s tube was filled up, Skull took the needle out, not minding the stinging as he carefully capped the needle and began to take off where the needle attached to the syringe, and disposed of that too in the garbage bowl, alongside the tourniquet he took off of his arm, before pouring the blood into one of the two mugs. 

Skull got out a spoon and began stirring, and that was when he spoke up, saying, “Last night I talked about the “GM”, but didn’t actually say what that was. It’s short for “Gene Mutation”. Mythology had it right on that vampires combusted when meeting sunlight, but that was before the Gene Mutation happened.” Skull, satisfied that his blood was well mixed with the espresso, took the spoon out of the mug and carefully laid it in the sink for later cleaning. He handed Reborn the mug, what the man took it with some hesitation, and Skull rolled his eyes. “Hey, who’s the expert here? Vampires can’t consume food and drinks unless they’ve been blood-infused, and while the process usually is different, mine just happens to be more … potent, allowing for to be easily mixed in with drinks.”

Reborn conceded and took a sip, finding that the blood _made the espresso even better_. Honestly, he was beginning to think skull’s blood was addictive, which worried him some. “So how, then, do vampires go from combusting to sparkling?”

“I’d like to reference Charles Darwin’s work in the Galapagos islands,” Skull said, smirking as he took a sip from his own mug. “He found that the finches of the islands were all of the same ancestor, but through time, had adapted to their different environments for to survive. It’s the same for any creature, but there was some … issues … with the evolution of vampire invulnerability.”

“Issues?” Reborn questioned, curious.

 

“Female DOV-Ds, short for “Demonic Origin Vampires-Direct”, are unable to reproduce, leaving for the male vampires to be the ones doing the impregnating, but that’s pretty uncommon and considered bad for multiple reasons, up there being that the child born from a human female and a male vampire, while carrying the vampirism, is a Dhampir, not a vampire. It’s all on the grounds of breeding. For a woman as is, when a fetus develops in her womb, the fetus is taking in the nutrients taken in by the woman, and it’s through this that evolution is key, as because the fetus develops, the baby growing, it learns what nutrients it needs. Adaptation to an environment is slow-going though and can take time, but for vampires, it’s really much more a difficult process.” Skull said, sighing. “The Gene Mutation finally occurred thanks to a female Dhampir and male vampire having twin children together. A Dhampir is naturally resistant to sunlight, and so it was thought that the woman’s genetics had allowed for her offspring to have some resistance to the sunlight, their vampiric abilities reinforced by their father’s genetics. The offspring the two sired were male and female respectively, which allowed for three things to happen. The first was, was that the two were able to grow up, in thanks to their mother’s genetics, and so the girl was able to give birth to future generations not just by Siring them into vampires when she became a woman. The boy, when he grew up and became a man, had offspring with two women, the first a Dhampir, like his mother had been, and the second a human, hoping for to find how the weaknesses and strengths worked with the offspring he sired with both of them. As it turned out, the offspring he had with the Dhampir had been like he and his sister, having some resistance to the weaknesses of vampires, especially walking out into the sunlight, but still vulnerable to the weaknesses, too. The offspring he had with the human had been like any other Dhampir, only their vampiric abilities were stronger than a regular Dhampir, it even being said that one of the Dhampir children sired was able to use an active power, something that was greatly surprising as Dhampirs had not previously displayed such capability. The second thing that happened was, the girl that became a woman had given birth to offspring that, like with her brother’s offspring, showed resistance and susceptibility to the weaknesses, but it was said that her offspring had been able to resist the weaknesses for a longer time than her brother’s children. This meant that children born from a Dhampir mother had a higher probability for the Gene Mutation, as while Dhampirs could turn a person, the human genetics make that something needing more reinforcement than a single bite, as the disease needs to take hold continuously as its weaker in a Dhampir due to the human blood. Ultimately, thirdly, the vampires created from these offspring also had the resistance due to the “parent” having the gene for resisting the weaknesses, but the susceptibility also faded over time as more children were born from the offspring of the twins, and those offspring’s offspring, and the children of all those offspring were able to pass on their resistance to the people that they turned into vampires.”

 

Reborn was silent throughout Skull’s telling of the story of the Gene Mutation, finding it fascinating. “What happened to the earlier generations of vampires?” “They died out or went into hiding, considering they were still susceptible to the weaknesses. By now, the majority of “older generations” are long and dead and long dead and gone, because of either the hunters, the Volturi’s laws they broke, or simply they killed themselves off due to not being able to continue on in the world like the newer generations could.”

“That’s … incredible,” Reborn said, looking at his blood-infused espresso, thinking. He then looked at Skull, asking, “But you still haven’t said how you knew I was a vampire?”

Skull smiled, “I knew you were one when I saw your eyes - how couldn’t I recognize those eyes? I’ve seen that exact shade of red everyday for my life since I was nine years old.”

Reborn looked at Skull with surprise. He had expected Skull to have been around vampires for some time, but since he was _nine_?

“Since you were _nine_?”

“Yeah! Let’s see … I was nine when the Volturi found me … during the 1000s AD …” Skull was rather reluctant to share that last bit, especially considering Reborn choked and had to cough his blood-infused espresso as to not gain any discomfort from the hot liquid going down into his no longer functioning lungs when he heard that. “You’re _how old_?!”

“Um, t-twenty … -two … physically. I’m, I think, over a thousand years old,” Skull said, his cheeks burning from embarrassment as Reborn stared at him with open bewilderment that marred the other man’s face. “You _cannot_ be serious. You _think_ ?!” “Well? I mean, I, I sort of … _don’t_ really care? I only really remember that it was during the 1000s that my family found me, because it was marked, that year,  by the plague of immortal children.” Reborn grew confused and Skull grimaced, saying, “It’s a history lesson I’d rather not get into right now, but let me just say, there’s a very good reason you won't ever find a child vampire hanging about. And be damn glad for that, too.”

Reborn narrowed his eyes before he dismissed it, the thought that entered his head. He would be getting the reason for why not later anyhow, so why worry now?

“Alright, but, you’re over a thousand years old, and yet, you look as if you’re not yet out of your late teens?” Skull shrugged at the inquiry, saying, “Clouds are slower to physically age because of our Flames Propagating our cells. For Classics, such Timoteo’s Cloud Guardian and Tsuna’s Hibari, they’re not as … powerful, in terms of it. It’s different for each, thanks to the different level of power that a Cloud’s Flames hold. A Classic’s Flames will course through their body to reach outwards into external manifestation. That coursing will slow the aging process down some because of Propagation of cells. For an Inverted Cloud, it’s the same, only, I’ve lived so long in thanks to my Flames being internally driven instead of externally. My cells are continuously Propagated to where I’m essentially immortal, only, y’know, pseudo.”

Reborn caught on, realization lighting his eyes up. “You make it a game for us to figure out, don’t you?” Skull smiled, “Yup! I wanted to see if Verde, with all his Flames research, could figure it out. He still hasn’t been able to make a connection yet, but, meh, who am I to argue with good fun?” Reborn smirked, “Has anybody actually figured your little game out?” “Believe it or not, yes. Tsuna, Enma, and even Gokudera figured it out. Tsuna pieced it together when he met me - saw it in his eyes -, and Enma, well, he was good at figuring it, when I gave him the description of a Cloud, and the statistics for lifespan of each Flame typing, including his and his Guardians’ own - what? They needed to know! -, and then Gokudera just asked me if my title had anything to do with the longevity of a Cloud, and there you go.” Reborn felt some pride in knowing two out of the seven - well, really now, it was six, as Lambo was still too young to really understand truly what was going on before and currently - that he had trained had figured Skull’s game out.

“How chaotic.” “Thanks!”

 

* * *

 

Their conversation had been after simply talking over how Reborn was feeling with everything, considering Skull for fact fledgling vampires, especially newly turned fledgling vampires, could get overwhelmed easily as their emotions - even when in their human life they’ve always had a handle on - could easily make them lash out in frustration. Soon enough, their conversation turned to something else entirely as Skull set his mug down on the counter, frowning thoughtfully.

“It just doesn’t make sense to me, though,” Skull said, leaning against the counter as he bit the nail of his thumb, looking upwards in thought. Reborn found himself curious, “And just what doesn’t make sense?”

Skull, still fornwing, averting his gaze away from Reborn’s curious own after giving a quick glance to the man, and Skull said, “You were alone when you woke up.” Reborn blinked, “Well, yes? But I don’t see -” “You were _alone_ , Reborn. That is _vehemently against_ our laws for a Childe to be alone upon their waking,” Skull hissed. “What?” Reborn wasn’t understanding, and it was frustrating the man.  

“A “Childe” is the term for a human-turned-vampire, which is what you are, and a “Sire”, well, that’s pretty self-explanatory when given the Childe explanation, but still to give it, a Sire is the vampire that turns a human into a Childe,” Skull explained. “It’s against the law for a Sire to leave their Childe alone upon their awakening, though, what I mean is, the Sire is responsible for their Childe’s behavior, teaching them the laws that they’re - the Childer - are meant to know before they’re released into the world. It’s a pretty cut and dry thing. If a Childe hunts conspicuously, they risk our existence becoming exposed, and so, while the Childe may have been ignorant of the law, their Sire surely wouldn’t be, and both would be put to death as both an example for what breaking the law will lead to, and to snip the risk of exposure before it’s properly bloomed.”

Reborn regarded this information, finding that, indeed, by what Skull had said, it didn’t make sense then, why the vampire that had turned him hadn’t stayed with, or, more likely, tracked him down, either, to silence him or to take him in and teach him the laws of the vampiric world. His eyes narrowed as his thoughts began racing, and what thoughts he had as to why his Sire hadn’t stayed, they weren’t pleasant thoughts.

Skull didn’t like the thoughts he was having on the subject matter, either. He needed a second opinion ASAP, but that came with the consequence of exposing Reborn to his family, something that before last night, Skull wouldn’t have ever thought he’d have to do as he didn’t ever expect - never thought to expect - one of _his_ getting turned into a vampire!

The laws of the Volturi were clear and concise when it came to their world, and while Skull wasn’t a vampire, he was an honorary vamp’, a Volturi by heart, and he knew that what they’d be doing next would break the hitman, but Skull didn’t care. There was something big happening here, and even if he was wrong - he hoped to Hell that he was wrong -, he didn’t want to take any chances.

 

It was time to pay his dear ol’ family a visit, but not before training Reborn up as a proper vampire. Like Hell Skull would let someone as insignificant as the World’s Greatest Hitman tarnish his reputation as the Demon!

 

“Oi, Senpai. Where do you live at?”

Reborn raised a brow, wondering just why he felt a foreboding chill. What the Hell was with that?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol, what did you think about my explanation over how the vampires went from combusting to sparkling? It'll have a few more details later on, but generally, the premise of my theory on how the sparklepires have such resistance to all that's said to be able to kill a vampire in mythology (save for a stake, as who wouldn't die from a piece of wood jammed into their chest? (At least the cutting off the head, setting the body on fire thing was kept in the series. -.-')
> 
> The line "Like Hell Skull would let someone as insignificant as the World’s Greatest Hitman tarnish his reputation as the Demon!" will get explained next chapter in more details, both why Skull is called the "Demon" and why he thought this way of Reborn, but let me just say, Skull's reputation as the "Demon" is more outstanding in the vampire community than Reborn's as the "Satanic Tutor from Hell". All I'm saying. 
> 
> And if you've spotted any grammatical errors~, you know what to do, lol!


	5. We're Going Through the Motions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everybody, happy New Year's! Well, it's still 2018 for me, it being December 31st in my time zone, but I know that it's already the new Year for a lot of you, so still saying happy New Year's, even when for me it's technically New Year's Eve! And YAS, got this chapter out for New Year's/New Year's Eve, so I'm pretty happy on that note. ^^
> 
> Regarding the next couple of chapters, for one, no chapter summaries, as I'm not going to spoil the fun until we're out of what the next chapters bring for Reborn and Skull, and for two, school starts back on January 7th for me, so I'm going to try turning out as many chapters as I possibly can before that, but after, I'm going to play by ear to see how that goes. I won't go on another hiatus like before, that much you can be assured by, but I'm just giving a warning now over L'ora Delle Straghe's chapter updates. 
> 
> Well, I'm pretty happy by how this chapter went, and hey, sheds a few more details on things! ^^ And yeah, Arwin01? Leon's along for the ride in this chapter.

“F***!”

 

Skull’s shout drew attention, but not so much as to cause people to stop and point, considering a person shouting an expletive out of the blue was actually more common than one would think (-   _I mean, how many times have you ever forgot something you’ve left behind just when you’re a few too many blocks away from your house to turn back and retrieve?_ ).

But Skull hadn’t forgotten anything to make him shout that expletive that had him immediately grinning apologetically to the people that walked past him, giving him a quick but odd look as they did so, having heard him shout to the high Heavens. He scowled as he turned to walk back to his apartment building, where after getting dressed to go out, he had left Reborn waiting at as he had told the fledgling he needed to take a look at the scene of Reborn’s wakening for “reasons”.  

Yeah, Reborn wasn’t so happy with that answer, but the steely, blank look on Skull’s face when he said that made him reconsider demanding more of an answer from Skull, as that look … was just downright _wrong_ to see on the Cloud’s face.

 

Why had Skull gotten so angry? Because, _there was nothing there_ , and _that_ was what made Skull so angry.

 

Something fishy was going on, and all points lead directly back to what Reborn had said and what didn’t ring originally until now with Skull’s warning bells.

The scene of a bloody massacre couldn’t just be covered up and wiped clean like that, and even though he was _very_ thankful for the cleaning up - meaning lack of a widespread panic that would cause a stir of monsters going bump in the night, what the Volturi would definitely be gnashing their teeth over if they had to intervene and cover up, considering all that intervening and covering up such a panic-inducing scene when it was already sighted caused in terms of surprising migraines -, was Skull _very_ upset that _the urgency to bring this to the Volturi’s attention was even worse than before_.

 

Lack of sight of a massacre having happened, Reborn’s recounting how there wasn’t even _one_ person out and about as he went his way from the horrendously bloody scene to Skull’s apartment’s door, and _oh_ , Skull’s “favorite” being Reborn’s memory loss.

 

Freakin’ scrambled eggs of a memory!

 

Reborn didn’t startle when Skull came back into the apartment, slamming the door closed behind him, but he did look on in surprise when Skull went over and grabbed only four of the many leather bound journals sitting organized based off of the color of their ribbon-bookmarks on the bookcase that sat off to the side in the room.

“What -” “Go get ready to leave, we’ll be heading over to your place in just a few minutes,” Skull told him, leafing through one of the journals he was now holding. “Not until you tell me what -” Reborn began to say, only for Skull to _snarl_ at him, the sound animalistic as he said quite heatedly, “We haven’t the time for your getting answers now, as you will hear them, what has me so maddened in this instance, when once we go before the kings! But only when once you _do as you’re told_!”

Reborn looked at Skull with narrowed eyes, uncertain of how exactly to respond to that, as prior to this situation, if Skull said that to him, he’d have - … well, he would’ve made sure Skull knew not to do it again, but now …

 

_‘He’s over a thousand years older than I am, for all that he physically looks younger. It’s obvious now he’s downplayed himself to being something nonthreatening. Skull’s never been one for formality, for as long as I’ve known his_ mask _, so I have to tread carefully, treat this as if I still know him as I thought I did, and from what I did know, he only ever spoke so seriously when it was_ serious _,’_ Reborn thought bitterly, bitter because he didn’t know anything about Skull except what he was learning now.

 

“Alright,” Reborn relented, “but please tell me what you found at the scene, because I’m thinking it was bad if you’re this upset.” Skull’s dark look lessened into something soft, the heat lost from his voice as he said, “Of course, but seriously, the more time we waste, the more worried and paranoid I’m going to be about what I - … _Just go get ready_.”

Reborn cast Skull a worried glance as he went to go change clothes - albeit when he got to the guest bedroom, he was glaring at the shirt he was going to be using for the time until they got to his house, where he could change out of this damnable Felix’s clothes and into a set of his own clothes ( _not minding the pants considering wasn’t as bad as wearing another man’s shirt_ ) - , and he heard faint muttering of _“So bad, this is so bad, bad, bad!”_ , alongside hurried footsteps. Focusing on getting ready, Reborn found himself soon back out in the living room, Skull with a duffel bag - _and where the heck did that even come from?_

“Closet, I always have this thing prepped and ready to go,” Skull said, and Reborn blinked. “Everybody questions the duffel bag “magically” appearing. Ready to go?”

“Yes,” Reborn said, ready to finally know what the heck was going on. Skull shouldered his duffel, “Then let’s go.”

 

* * *

 

Surprisingly, Skull did in fact own a car, but he preferred his motorcycle as his main means of transportation, so rarely used his car. He kept it well maintained though, and so when once they got into the car, did they set a course for Reborn’s house, what was a bit a ways from where Skull lived, Reborn liking his solitude well enough away from the public’s curious eyes.

During the drive, Reborn - being the passenger to Skull’s driving, as Skull had said with finality, “My car, so I’m driving.” - had questioned Skull some regarding what he saw at the scene, since it was as good a time as any to talk about when it would be a good some hours before arriving at the house.

“It was what I didn’t find that has me so jumpy,” Skull admitted as he made a left turn. “There was no sign of the massacre having at all,” and Reborn tensed when hearing this. “What?” “Nothing. Zip, zilch, nadda, as if it never happened,” Skull replied, his grip on the steering wheel tightening.

“Skull, do the Volturi have any enemies?” Reborn questioned. Skull gave a snort, “Who doesn’t these days? Of course, and that’s the worrying thing. We’re plainly sure that the Romanians are out of the picture for now, since it’s only the two, and they don’t have - …” Skull sighed as he continued driving straight, catching Reborn’s curiosity. “I really didn’t want to bring this up just yet …”

“You didn’t want to bring up what?” Reborn asked softly, seeing the pained look on Skull’s face. Skull looked at Reborn from out of his peripheral quickly before focusing back on the road.  “Rain, Lightning, and Mist Flames. They don’t have those Flame-typings. Vampires … aren’t capable of using Flames, unless they were able to before their turning. But …”

Unease sunk in Reborn’s stomach, his heart, as still as it was, doing flips out of nervousness. “But?” “But when a vampire has Flames, a holdover from their human life, their Flames … are _twisted_.”

Skull was pulling over as Reborn grew silent, the silence deafening in the car. They didn’t need to be driving when the explosion comes. Skull had seen how badly it affected those turned that prior to their turning, were with Flames, Soul Extension, as he learned it as, and learned this news.

“How … are they twisted?” Reborn asked quietly. Skull looked at him somberly, “It’s dependent on a lot of things …” Skull looked down at the steering wheel, his eyes becoming shadowed, haunted.

Reborn looked over at him when Skull said in a soft voice, “I’m sorry. Everything … has been so overwhelming, and it’s not even been a full day. I’ve seen it before, so many damn f***ing times, where after the change, when a Flames-user sees what their Flames become after the venom strikes … I - I never wanted _any_ of you to get involved in this part of my life, and I tried so hard to keep it - th-those that would, from getting to any of you. But I - I failed. I failed you, and now your Flames are twisted and - and it’s all my f***ing fault!”

 

Skull was crying now, a sob wracking his body as he couldn’t contain his emotions regarding this entirely _f***ed so disastrously up_ situation. He had been so careful, so cautious to not involve his family’s world in his life as an Arcobaleno, and he had been so careful, so cautious, too, in keeping his life as an Arcobaleno, the Flames community, from finding out about his family’s world! He had spent the majority of his years alive - _so a good f***ing number_ \- keeping the people he cared about safe, keeping the Flame actives safe from being turned, just because of the suicide rates for Flames-using vampires alone sickened him enough!

 

Skull startled at Reborn’s touch, looking at him in bewilderment as Reborn had put his arm around Skull in an attempt to comfort him. Reborn said, keeping his voice steady, “It could’ve been a lot worse, Skull. I’m … I’m glad that it was you that was behind the door, out of all people it could’ve been, because yes, this is a very overwhelming situation, and that’s actually very understating of how _bad_ this has been since I woke last night, but … nonetheless, _it could’ve been worse_.”

Reborn averted his gaze down to the side, saying, “I kill people, and yet, my biggest fear is killing an innocent person - as innocent as this world allows -, and that fear only become much more likely when my instincts took over when I woke. But I was downright _terrified_ when I saw it was you behind the door when it opened, because if I lose myself to my instincts and kill you … _that_ would be what breaks me, not my Flames being twisted, but me killing you.”

Reborn was the one to startle at Skull’s touch now, the Cloud with his pointer finger lying on Reborn’s cheekbone, a single, tiny touch that left so much heat along the icy cold of his stone-like skin. “You couldn’t kill me, even if mind controlled to,” Skull said as Reborn looked at him.

 

“Because I’d kill you before you could kill me, Renato.”

 

Reborn stared in shock at Skull, who lowered his hand and placed it back on the steering wheel, Skull saying as he gave the man a smile, “I mean, seriously, that’s - that’s really one of the nicest things anybody not my family has said to me, but you really don’t have to worry. I’m not so fragile I’d die so easily at a vampire’s hands, let alone a human’s.”

Reborn found his voice but immediately regretted his words when he pointed out, “What about Byakuran? You died by his hands.” “Ah, but I walked to my death~!” Skull sung, sounding so damn chipper. “ … What?” “Bucket list, man, haven’t you ever written one for when you - … Well, guess if you did, pretty obsolete now, since there’s no rush to complete it, save for if we die by whatever plot is happening!” Skull laughed as he began getting the car back on the road.

 

Yeah, Reborn really didn’t know Skull, but …

 

He was still damn glad it was Skull that had opened the door.

 

* * *

 

When they’d finally arrived at Reborn’s house, Reborn had been so damn thankful to be out of Skull’s thrice damned car. Skull’s singing voice was pretty good, but those songs definitely _were not_ , thank you very much, and especially, he’ll have trouble for a good while getting Skull’s _“100 hundred humans bleeding on the wall”_ song out of his head, because _seriously_ ?! Why does he even have a song parody of that damn _“100 something on the wall”_ song?!

 

Skull laughed as he locked his car, the car now sitting pretty in Reborn’s driveway. “C’mon, Senpai, it wasn’t so bad a song!” “It may have been better than the garbage you were singing before that, I’ll admit, but your taste in music is _horrible_ if that’s what you listen to on a basis!” Reborn snapped back, irritated as Skull continued laughing.

Reborn’s house was quite the place, secluded but not too far out to where it was completely in isolation, just where nobody would go looking if not for a very good reason. Skull liked the looks of the place beyond the location, as it really did fit with Reborn’s character, but had a tasteful design that wasn’t so overly in your face about the pay he received as a hitman.

“You keep key in a flower patch?” Skull was confused on that one. Reborn said as he unlocked his door, “If anybody did try breaking in, they’d find it difficult since the glass is reinforced, _heavily_ reinforced, and the locks are all wired to electrocute anybody that would try picking them.” Skull stared at that, “You have electrocuting doors?!”

“It did take a while to figure out how to do that, but then Verde was always one for challenges,” Reborn smirked. “So Verde’s the only one that knows how to turn it off?” Skull blinked as Reborn hid the key again, as the door was now unlocked. “Yes and no. Verde does know how to shut it off, but the system needs a bypass code, and I was the one that keyed that into the system.” “Okay, but again, the flower patch hidey-hole?”

 

“ … Something my mother used to do,” Reborn admitted, causing Skull to let the subject drop. He was touchy over the subject regarding his own mom, Skull wouldn’t dare to ask another person about theirs.

 

After locking the door behind him when they were both inside, Reborn noticed something. “What was the duffel bag for, exactly?”

“Make sure to grab something comfortable for a week’s worth of camping,” Skull said instead with a grin. His grin then changed into a speculative frown, saying, “Also, maybe best to bring Leon along? Where even was he? Don’t you usually keep him with you?”

Reborn answered, saying, “No, I never bring Leon on a mission to kill, only to incapacitate. When he’s not with me, he’s usually either in my room, or sunbathing in front of a window if there’s enough sunlight filtering in through it. And what about Oodako? I didn’t see him at your apartment?”

 

Reborn’s question caused for Skull to still, thinking.

 

* * *

 

**Atlantic Ocean**

“The kraken! It’s the kraken!” Terrified sailors shouted as giant tentacles came coiling around the two ships, keeping them still and stealing their nets, the poachers losing their catches.

“Damn ye, kraken!” One spat into the water, only to get slapped across the face by a tentacle and sent overboard the other side of the ship, falling into the ocean.

Under the boats, Oodako, large enough to do what he was doing, was giggling up bubbles, his breather off for the meantime as he wanted to taste water for the while, not air. His human was the best for letting him do this! _‘Suck on that, Leon!’_

 

* * *

 

“Vacationing,” Skull was quick to say. Reborn raised a brow, wondering at Skull’s quick answer. He brushed it aside as he knew Skull wouldn’t have allowed Oodako to do anything dangerous - well, too dangerous. Skull wouldn’t allow Oodako to do something that was life-threatening, was better said.

 

“And … regarding the camping? You said so yourself that the information regarding what was learned last night and this morning has to be taken to the Volturi as soon as possible, so wouldn’t a week be a horrible waste of time in getting this information to them?”

“ … How fond are you of you keeping your head, exactly?” Skull asked instead. “What?” Reborn was taken back by this. “Reborn, Renato, my Senpai, you’re more than likely to be executed by my family if I take you as you are now to them with this highly sensitive information. You’re a former Arcobaleno, the World’s Greatest Hitman, and now a fledgling vampire, a time where vampires are more at risk of exposing us than any other time, because of instincts, hunger, and the fledgling vampire is simply stupidly reckless if not given training in how to be a vampire with some common damn sense of self-preservation, not just survival. You got lucky in not meeting anybody but me, something I have my suspicions over why when you woke up and nobody else was around, but we’re still at a loss when it comes to your control. So if you want to keep your head, not be dismembered, and turned into a raging bonfire to keep from coming back, I would think the last thing you would do is complain about a camping trip.”

“ … I’ll go get ready,” Reborn said, turning and going to his room, after of course leading Skull to the living room for him to wait at. Skull sat down on the couch as he waited for Reborn to get back, only to find when he heard a scuttling sound, a little chameleon staring at him when he turned his head to look at the end table, where he heard the scuffling noise.

 

“L-Leon?!” Skull questioned, picking the chameleon up carefully as he peered closely at the much off little reptile. Leon greeted Skull with that little smile of his as Skull held him gently while peering closely at him in bewilderment. Why bewilderment?

 

Because Leon’s scales were _not_ supposed to look as dark as they had, like Leon spent a little too much time getting suntanned, looking much darker a green now. And Skull swore that Leon’s eyes had flecks of red in them! “Okay, that … is completely disturbing.” Skull deadpanned as Leon scuttled up his arm, resting in the crook of his neck.

 

Skull wished he brought his duffel bag with him, because he left his journals in them, and this was something he really wanted to write about! Who knows what this meant?! Flame familiars changing their appearance in accordance to their human partners becoming  vampires?! This could mean the link went straight down further into the soul than previously thought!

Reborn got back in time to see Skull nearly vibrating with excitement for some reason, and Reborn, now dressed in something suitable for the outdoors, with a bag with camping supplies - knife good for gutting, a tent, and the similar, his beloved fedora carefully tucked away in the bag - being carried on one arm.

“What’s got you so excited?” Reborn questioned with amusement but curiosity. He blinked as he was met with - “Leon?!” Reborn dropped his bag and took Leon from Skull, checking him voer. “What happened to him?!”

“Flame familiars are tied closely to the soul, but his appearance darkening as it did must mean that Flame familiars are bound more deeply to their human partners’ souls more than previously thought, so when they become vampires, well, this happens!” Skull said, absolutely giddy from his finding this out. “Accommodating for the twisted Flames! Oh, this is spectacular!”

“How is this spectacular, Lackey?” Reborn hissed, literally hissing like a reptile, causing Skull to still. Skull stared at Reborn before he snorted, smothering his oncoming laughter with a hand. “Y-You, oh man, this is _great_! Senpai, have Leon become a gun!”

 

Reborn’s eye twitched. Leon did become a gun in his hand but the chameleon kept his safety feature on, having a feeling that Oodako’s crazy vampire-raised human was in danger of getting shot if he didn’t quit with his antics. _‘Makes sense though. Crazy kraken having a crazier vampire-raised psychopath,’_ Leon thought.

 

The two men stared at Leon’s gun form, it being darker-looking, and … was that a blade attached to the barrel of the gun? “Amazing,” Skull muttered, his eyes gleaming as he took in the sight of that blade. “What exactly does this mean?” Reborn questioned, afraid for his familiar.

“Nothing bad, I swear,” Skull said as he smiled reassuringly at Reborn. “This simply means that you’re not leaving an important loved one behind,” because weren’t Flame familiars just that, loved ones, dearly loved by their human partners?

Leon transformed back into his reptilian self, smiling at Reborn, who gave his Flame familiar a tiny smile back, his eyes soft. “I won’t argue with you on that,” he told Skull, looking from Leon to said man in question.

Skull grinned, “Good, now time for some camping~!”

 

* * *

 

They’d driven out to a more tree-filled area, still so close to being so far away from any people, perfect for training, in Skull’s line of thinking.

As they set up camp, Reborn had to ask, “Exactly, what will we be doing?”

Skull’s grin turned mean, “Training, of course. You have to learn how to be a proper vampire before meeting my family, and the first lesson?”

 

Thankfully, Reborn wasn’t holding Leon, otherwise Skull would’ve been a bit upset with himself for having hurt another’s Flame familiar when he swept Reborn’s feet out from under him, knocking him to the ground in an unexpected move.

 

Leon sat on Reborn’s bag, watching with curiosity as Skull planted a foot on Reborn’s chest, keeping him from getting up, as for all the strength a fledgling vampire not even a day old had, Skull had unconventional use of his Flames helping him keep Reborn down. Leon couldn’t sense any actual danger to his human, but he did feel sorry for Reborn, having heard from Oodako just why the vampires called Skull “Demon”.

“Knowing your place,” Skull’s smile was far too toothy as Reborn glared at him, his eyes burning with anger at that dirty move. “You’re called the Satanic Tutor from Hell because of how you teach, but y’know what they call me? _Demon_ , plain and simple. Welcome to a week of Hell, Renato, because that’s where you’ll be until we’re finished here.”

 

_‘Oh dang, I wish I had some popcorn!’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I hope you guys enjoyed chapter 5! 
> 
> ^w^ #w#' The massacre sight was a plot hole I remembered when writing this chapter, and so that's why I started it off how I had, to cover it up. It did get me thinking on after finishing the story up, of making a rewrite, but meh, dunno if that's a good idea or not until I get the story completed. 
> 
> With the Flames, it's my own personal thinking what happens to those with Flames if they get turned into vampires, and ... I would think that would break them, having their Flames so twisted, twisted into something different from before, since Flames are a physical manifestation of the soul. 
> 
> Regarding Leon and Oodako ... c'mon, like the Flame familiars of the Arcobaleno never talk and gossip to one another over their humans, having it out on who's got the better human and all?! Plus, I can so see Oodako going all "kraken" on poacher ships for when he wants some down time, and who is Skull to stop his familiar from doing so? XD So yeah, that pretty much explains why Leon knew Skull was raised by vampires and seemed so in the know already! 
> 
> Also, regarding the "Demon" thing, for the story, Skull's the trainer for the fledgling vampires and regular vampires that join up with the Volturi, and we'll be seeing next chapter just why he got his nickname~! ^^ Lol, even I'm excited for next chapter, and I'm the one writing this stuff!
> 
> Well, as always, if you've spotted any grammatical errors, please let me know so I can fix them ASAP! I'd really love to not take anything away from my story just because of some bad grammar.


	6. A Lesson To Learn & Blood Binds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... 
> 
> YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I managed to get a chapter finished up and updated within the span of two days after the the previous chapter was posted. HELL YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> ^^ Lol, you can see I'm very happy by my completing this chapter not too long after chapter 5 came out! On the subject though of chapter 6, ... I could've done a lot better, is all I'm going to say.

He wasn’t himself, hadn’t been for ever since he’d caught whiff of Skull’s scent the night he woke, but Reborn had only thought on it briefly before brushing it aside, how  _ uncharacteristic  _ he’d been. 

He had chalked his uncharacteristic behavior as being the result of how utterly  _ f***ed up  _ the situation was, as any person would be off of their game learning that, after waking up with a migraine and memory loss both to greet them, they were now  _ mythology _ , a vampire that  _ sparkled _ . And then there was the  _ unknown person or people’s plot  against the security and safety of the vampiric world _ to also consider, and Reborn just … brushed his uncharacteristic behavior off as simply something he didn’t need to concern himself wholly with. 

 

He should’ve asked sooner if that, his odd behavior, was a common for fledgling vampires, vampires at all. But better yet? 

 

He shouldn’t have let his guard down. 

 

Skull’s boot weighed heavy on his chest, but gravity weighed heavier, keeping him pinned to the ground below. Reborn’s glare was seething, his crimson eyes burning brightly. 

“What do you think you’re doing?!” He hissed demandingly. Skull smiled, far too toothily, far too  _ derangedly _ , his eyes glinting dementedly as he looked down at Reborn. “Teaching you the first lesson, but of course,” Skull said as if talking down to a tantrum-throwing toddler. “After all, for to survive in our world, you must  _ know your place _ in it. And where you are at the moment?” 

Reborn gasped, and he was thankful he had no need to breathe any longer as gravity pressed down on his chest, but it was still very uncomfortable to feel. 

“What - What is this?” He questioned, feeling as if he was being pressed down into the ground, something try to give the ground his body’s outline, he unable to move against it. Skull clicked his tongue, saying as his smile went to a frown in no time flat, “One of the reasons they call me  _ “Demon” _ is because of my unconventional use of my Flames, as well as my  _ teaching  _ in using Flames unconventionally. This? This is my Flames, Propagating gravity, more specifically,  _ yours _ . I’ve learned throughout the years how to weigh down a person, to the point of  _ crushing  _ them flat,  _ and you ever see that _ ?” 

“Stop it,” Reborn managed out, the Propagated gravitation force keeping him down and crushing him to the ground putting an immense pressure on all of his body. Skull gave Reborn a bored look, “I can’t, not until you comply. You’re far too stubborn, and won’t listen to what you’re being told unless you’re  _ made to listen _ , so,  _ I’m making you listen _ . This? This is  _ my world _ .  _ Your world  _ now, too. You do not belong any longer to the human world, and while you’ve Flames, you. Belong. To.  _ US _ !” 

After that, the clearing had gone quiet, save for the squawking of the birds as they flew off from their trees, having been startled by Skull’s shouting. 

After a long minute that felt far too long to both, Reborn felt the pressure easing up, no longer pinning him to the ground, Skull’s boot off of his chest. He sits up, seeing Skull down by his side, the Cloud’s eyes blank as he said, “The first lesson is  _ always  _ learning your place, no matter … the world you’re part of. You learn you’re inconsequential, and that you build yourself up to be something, to be some _ body _ .”

Skull’s eyes were fogged with memories, and Reborn was quiet as he took in what Skull was saying. “Despite my not being a vampire, I am very much a Volturi, and … that means? The three kings,  _ our  _ kings, are the lawmakers, but their Guard, my siblings and I, we are the law  _ keepers _ , my fa - family’s failsafe measure for if there is a breach in security, safety, and the first response for  _ dispatching _ breaches. You’re …  _ nothing  _ to them, but you’re a person I care about, Renato. You  _ have  _ to not go against me when it comes to this training, because I  _ won’t  _ stand in my family’s way if you’re deemed …  _ unnecessary  _ in remaining.”

 

Reborn didn’t know why it was he was so …  _ not himself  _ when around Skull now, and yes, the situation  _ was  _ very overwhelming, especially considering  _ what Skull was saying over his possibly being executed _ , but … 

 

“We’ve got a much bigger problem to deal with than my ego,” Reborn replied, smirking. Skull huffed, smiling now as he knew Reborn was on board, willing to comply. 

“Yeah, we certainly do,” Skull said, standing and helping Reborn to stand, which wasn’t really necessary. 

Reborn grew curious, “What even are the laws? You explained before that a Sire can’t leave their Childe, not without teaching them, but what about the other laws?”

 

Skull grinned, “Better get comfortable, Senpai, ‘cause this is going to be one Helluva long history lesson.” 

 

* * *

 

After the two were back on the ground, only in more comfortable positions, Skull began explaining over the Volturi, his family. 

“To start with, the Volturi are the closest equivalent to royalty that the vampiric world has,” Skull said. “The Volturi’s three “kings”, Aro, Caius, and Marcus, had founded the Volturi back during the … hmm, it was established between the years 1200 to 1100 BC, so for sometime over 3,000 years they -  _ we’ve _ existed.” “That long?” “Yup~! The Volturi is one of the largest covens to exist in the vampiric world, alongside the Olympic, Denali, and …” Skull’s smile dipped, “and the Mexican coven.” Reborn was confused at Skull’s pained expression when speaking of that last coven, but decided against asking. “That’s quite impressive,” he said instead.

“Yeah, it is,” Skull agreed, his cheer regaining. “Like I said before, my siblings and I, we’re the ones to enforce the kings’ laws, their failsafe measure for any breaches of security and safety for the vampiric world. We are that defense, because of our gifts enabling us as so.” 

“Gifts?” Reborn raised a brow at Skull’s wording. “Holdovers from the time a vampire was alive, so, for example, a - … well, it’s when if a person’s, I guess, strongest trait is amplified. Amplified a  _ lot _ , to supernatural proportions! It’s … better to see it for yourself, but for Flames, the applications are …  _ different  _ from the standard use,” Skull explained. 

“Like with your increasing gravity?” Reborn asked rhetorically. Skull grinned, “Ah, you’ve got to love the unconventional use of Flames, but not exactly. My Flames are still “pure”, not a Twisted Extension, and so my increasing gravity wouldn’t be classified as a “gift”, especially as that’s an application that doesn’t come easy, unlike with how cellular reproduction does, crazily enough.” 

“How is it crazy?” Reborn was curious, only to be taken back by a  _ lot  _ when Skull got out a pocket knife, switched the blade open, and  _ cut off his own finger _ . “Skull, what the  _ f*** _ ?!” Reborn snapped as he took Skull’s hand, grabbing the finger and hoping his Flames weren’t so twisted that he wouldn’t be able to - …

 

…  _ What the ever living f***?! _

 

Reborn watched in disbelieving shock as Skull’s pointer finger  _ grew back _ , looking as if he hadn’t ever taken a knife to the digit! 

Reborn let go of Skull’s hand  _ and cut off finger  _ in mute horror at what he just witnessed, the sight  _ very  _ disturbing as he had watched  _ an entire finger  _ growing.

“Crazy like  _ that _ . It’s kind of how I’m alive after all these years,” Skull said with a smile. “And especially how I survived Bermuda’s headshot!” Reborn flinched at the reminder, startling Skull, as  _ Reborn had flinched _ . 

“That … is a  _ very  _ disturbing application,” Reborn said, truly and utterly disturbed by what he’ll now never be able to unsee. Skull shrugged, taking ahold of the finger he cut off and tossed it as far of as he could. Reborn was pretty sure if anybody that was on a hike found that finger, they’d be traumatized in thinking a murder had happened. 

“Meh, it has its uses,” Skull said. “Now getting back to the lesson  _ at hand _ ,” Skull grinned as he wiggles his fingers at Reborn, who deadpanned. “Ha, lighten up! It wasn’t so bad, and I could’ve also chopped off my hand or something, too!”

“Skull, your self-mutilation is something I am  _ not  _ going to be held accountable for, for when we go see your family.” 

“Relax, Senpai! They’ve seen me self-mutilate before!” Skull laughed. “Then that’s even worse!” Reborn responded. 

“Okay, okay. We’re getting off track here,” Skull said. “Yes, you were talking about how it is that you and your siblings’ “gifts” help to keep breaches from happening before we got into how your Flames allow you to self-mutilate without much issue over recovery,” Reborn said snappily, still disturbed by what he saw. 

 

I mean, it was an entire  _ finger _ recreating itself! 

 

Skull rolled his eyes at Reborn’s reaction to his “gift”. Yeah, it disturbed many a person when after seeing it -  _ also having caused a great many a vampire wanting to see just how far his regeneration was capable of going _ -, but it wasn’t that bad compared to some of the other  _ even more disturbing  _ gifts out there. 

“Right, right. Anyways, continuing on. Not all vampires receive a gift. In fact, Caius is without a gift, as are many others of the coven, this including Athenodora and Sulpicia, respectively, the wives of Caius and Aro. Now, just because they don’t have gifts, doesn’t mean that they aren’t dangerous, so remember that,” Skull told him, his expression serious. Reborn gave his acknowledgment, and Skull continued on, saying, “Now, the coven is made up of 33 members, 3 unofficial, 3 of the members being obviously the kings, 17 the transitory members, and the other 10 being apart of the “inner Guard”, you can say. Athenodora and Sulpicia as well as I are the three unofficial members, and the 17 transitory members are those of the Guard that protect - well, they protect the two as well as Jane and Alec - two of the inner Guard - when they’re out on the battlefield. Jane and Alec are better known as the “Witch Twins” for their gifts, Jane’s being Pain Illusion, meaning she can cause a person excruciating pain that incapacitates them without even touching them, and Alec’s gift is even worse, it being Sensory Deprivation. He can cut off a person’s senses,  _ all of them _ , and his gift he can spread out across a large group, why he and Jane are the most powerful of the inner Guard and just well, the most important.” 

Reborn was in shock hearing this, as by just those two examples alone, he was getting an inkling of the power behind the Volturi and why it was they were capable of dispatching breaches. “That’s …” “Frightening? Hell yeah, it is. The transitory members were once upon a time ago my protectors, too, and somewhat still are, just for the kings’ peace of mind, but I can handle my own, as how I became the “Demon” in the first place. … Interestingly enough, it was during the plague of immortal children that they found me …” 

Skull’s eyes glazed over as he remembered, and his smile dipped into something longing, perhaps of old days long gone? Reborn didn’t know, and he daren’t think he’d ever know just what it was Skull’s fondest memories of this family of his were. “What is the plague of immortal children? You said that before, back at the apartment, but didn’t tell anything over it?” Reborn inquired. Skull stilled before his expression became something maddened, he angered. “ … Children are … quite beautiful, aren’t they? Such innocence until life decides to screw them over. But children … are not able to keep our secret, no. For all their beauty, especially when turned, forever that angelic, cherubic, devil-horned being when after becoming one of us, they have no sense of restraint, no self-control whatsoever. The youngest age for a human to be able to be turned is thirteen, and even that’s only for extreme cases, just because the younger the human is when they’re changed, the less restraint on their bloodlust when they wake up as a fledgling.” Skull tilted his head, looking at Reborn intently. “Maybe that’s why you have a better control on your bloodlust?” 

Reborn thought on that, frowning. “Maybe?” And speaking of bloodlust … he was thirsty again. He would most likely go for a drink sometime soon, but for now, he had a history lesson to finish up learning. 

“Continuing?” Reborn prompted, intrigued even more by what he was hearing. Skull smiled, happy to be talking about his family, despite circumstances. He then went back to looking serious as he said, “Continuing, many immortal children were made, and the Volturi had done their job, killing both the Childer and their Sires, as this was a rather devastating breach in security. Breaking any of our laws is punishable by death, but to create an immortal child? No, that is without a doubt, the worst possible law you could break.”

 

“ … What … are the -  _ our _ laws?” Because he had to get used to that, “our”. No longer human, now a vampire, and so now he had to abide by the laws of his new world’s governing coven. And so that was why Reborn asked, because he had to know what to abide by. Skull smiled at him, happy to hear him saying “our”. This was the hardest part for a fledgling, accepting what they were, are, after becoming a vampire. “Well, like I said, they’re pretty much common sense by this time.” 

Skull then went into explaining them, listing them off, “To recap what I told you back at the apartment, the official wording for that law is “ _ The creator is responsible for his newborn's behavior and teaching of the laws before they can be released on their own. By letting a newborn hunt conspicuously, the penalty will be death both to the newborn and its creator. Even if the newborn is ignorant of the law, his rash acts are still punishable by death. _ ” That’s why we’re here, because as the “newborn” vampire in question, they’ll be looking at you with a critical eye for not being made aware of any of this. The second law I spoke of? “ _ Incapable of self-control, and therefore a threat of exposure, immortal children are not to be created. Such creation is the ultimate taboo and punishable by death to both child, the creator, those who defend the child and those who know of its existence. _ ” Now, the laws after are dealing with humans and hunting, mainly that “ _ Vampires' interaction with humans must not draw wide attention. If a human becomes aware of them, the vampire at fault would be responsible for silencing that human. This mostly leads to two options: either make the human join the immortals or silence that human permanently. As long as attention isn't drawn widely that prompts the Volturi's involvement, they may never find out. _ ” “ _ Attention should not be drawn and vampires should not be noticed in open sunlight _ ,” is pretty much a no-brainer law, and regarding hunting? “ _ Hunts must be inconspicuous, with victims unlikely to be missed; their remains must be disposed of and territory must be changed often. _ ” Now, as the Volturi are highly careful as to not risk themselves, this next law … “ _ Hunting is forbidden in Volterra, the town of residence of the Volturi; their food is brought from outside, sometimes from quite far away. _ ”” 

Reborn was surprised, “The Volturi are stationed in Italy?” Skull gave a nod, saying, “Yup, pretty much. And I mean, why not? Most think of Transylvania when they think vampire royalty, but hey, we’re not ones for stereotypes, y’know? Well, it was true back in the old day that Drac’ liked Transylvania, and his story was pretty much awe-inspiring, but when the Volturi formed, Transylvania and vampires were just so typical, it was like exposure was coming to your house for dinner!” “Dracula was  _ real _ ?!” Reborn should’ve guessed on that one, but … “Yeah, but not anymore. Dude died ages ago. His own undoing, but hey, nobody can deny he wasn’t a badass. Oh! And that brings me to the last law. You’ll love this. “ _ Dealing with Children of the Moon, except for the purpose of extermination, is prohibited. _ ”” Skull grinned at Reborn’s incredulous look. 

“Werewolves are real.” “Yup~! And they’re a real pain in the ass, too,” Skull said, deadpanning that last bit. “It was actually Caius’s fear of them that had caused for that last law. He’s the most vocal of their eradication, which I don’t blame him. Weirdly enough, real and not shape-shifting wolves seem to be okay with him, but mostly I’m thinking that’s because of the time a wolf pup wouldn’t stop following him around. He’ll deny it, but it’s pretty much a known thing that he misses that pup, no matter what he says to the contrary.” Reborn was greatly amused as he imagined an excitable wolf pup running and chasing a vampire he could only imagine as being regal in appearance. “Now that must’ve been an adorable sight.” “Extremely adorable,” Skull said, before smirking, “Almost as adorable as you with your lisp.”

Reborn’s amusement? Gone. “Do  _ not _ bring that up.” It was embarrassing, being reminded of  _ that _ , how he couldn’t pronounce his favorite word without difficulty. Skull laughed, holding his hands up in surrender, “Hey, no big deal.” He dropped his hands as he said, “But seriously, yeah, werewolves are real. You’ll find a lot of the myths are real.” “Great,” Reborn deadpanned, knowing a good deal about mythology to know, there were some pretty weird and disturbing ones out there. 

“Going back into things, the Volturi does have enemies, but they aren’t that big a deal, and it really isn’t my story to tell as much as my fa - family’s,” Skull said, and again with that, stuttering on “family”, though to Reborn, the pronunciation at first sounding like  _ “fah” _ , like Skull was about to say a different word from “family”. “Alright, but you said the … Romanians?” “Yeah, they’re f***ers that deserve the highest amount of torture before a slow, very slow and painful death,” Skull said with a straight face, causing for Reborn to wonder just what it was that these people did to Skull, or better to say, Skull’s family. 

 

“And that’s pretty much it for the history lesson!”

 

* * *

 

After the lesson, Skull had told him he wanted to write down some observations, what Skull was basically telling Reborn was  _ “I need some time.” _ Reborn took that as an opportunity to find an animal to drink, as he could only smell Skull being the only human there but didn’t want to be dependent on Skull’s blood ( _ no matter how divine it was to drink _ ). 

Leon had stayed behind as per Skull’s wanting to write down observations over the little chameleon’s change in color and gaining of crimson in his eyes, what Reborn could honestly say he didn’t what was funnier, Skull’s excitement to write what he found in his observations, or Leon’s basking in Skull’s attentions. 

With those two back at the clearing, Reborn was hunting animals, smiling viciously as he found a non-human scent. He followed it, finding a deer. Idly, he wondered at the difference of animal blood to that of a human’s, but dismissed the thought for two reasons, the first being no human blood could compare to Skull’s, and secondly, he’d find out now anyways. 

The deer didn’t know what hit him -  _ the deer was a buck _ \- and went crumpled against the ground as Reborn began drinking. Almost immediately as the blood hit his tongue, Reborn did as he had with the corpse’s blood, regurgitating it. He gagged as the taste wouldn’t leave his mouth,  _ mio Dio it wouldn’t his mouth! _

 

“Yeah, animal blood just doesn’t have the same taste as a human’s blood.”

 

Reborn looked up, seeing Skull walking over to him, Leon resting on Skull’s shoulder, careful as to not fall off. “Sorry,” Skull said, looking thoroughly apologetic. “I should’ve told you about this before, but a vampire’s not supposed to drink animal blood. It weakens them, but thankfully it’s a disgusting taste or so I’ve been told.” 

Leon scurried down from Skull’s shoulder as the Cloud went down by Reborn’s side, “I wouldn’t have denied you if you asked me, y’know.” Reborn frowned as he looked away from Skull, saying, “I don’t want to be dependent on your blood. The taste of it is …” he scowled, “ _ addictive _ .”

 

Skull frowned, before realizing. “Of course it is. Damn, how could’ve I forgotten to mention?” Reborn looked at Skull confusedly, and the Cloud began explaining, “Okay, look, vampires are weak to their bloodlust, alright? The fledgling year, their bloodlust is  _ excruciating _ . A fledgling is more controlled by their instincts than they are guided by any form of logical thought. You? You’re weird. Now, a vampire has two very …  _ important  _ people in their life.  _ La tua cantante _ , a person whose blood will call out to you, that person, they’re going to smell so appetizing to you and you alone, more than they would to any other vampire. They’re the human that you’ll … find it difficult to leave alive, simply because of how appealing they’ll be to your senses, your sense of smell and sense of taste. The second person is your mate, literally being your soulmate, which, hey, always a plus for the eternally living! Or eternally undead, whatever. But bottom line is, you’ve got a soulmate out there, one you’ve literally got an eternity in finding and spending your everlasting days and nights with. It’s uncommon to find your soulmate in a human, but it does happen, and for those cases, their scents are said to be Heavenly, but not like how a Singer’s scent is, and I remember Jordan - a really nice guy, if a little bit of a maniac when it came to romance - telling me that his mate’s blood, when he tasted her as he turned her, was “the sweetest nectar”. Now, it could just be that you haven’t tasted the blood of any other Clouds yet, but a Cloud’s blood is … better-tasting than another human’s blood because of the fact Propagation allows for our red blood cells to multiply, meaning fresher-tasting blood, which for a vampire is pretty much how a really fine wine is to a human. It could very well be that as the first Cloud you’ve drunk blood from, you’re getting that addictive feeling, but it could also be that I’m your Singer, since you did say my scent was “delectable”.”

 

Reborn frowned as he processed what Skull was saying.  _ ‘No, no that … doesn’t seem right. While yes, his scent is delectable, it’s … not appetizing in  _ that _ way. His scent is calming, isn’t sending me into any sort of bloodlusting frenzy. His blood’s delicious, addictive, but ... it could be like what he’s saying, that it’s simply him being a Cloud, why his blood tastes so good.’  _

 

“I don’t think you’re my Singer. While yes, your scent is delectable, it’s …  calming, not something that riles me into any sort of bloodlusting craze, Skull. It could very well just be you being a Cloud, and especially, the first human I’ve drunk blood from, not taking into account that corpse.” He frowned in distaste at the memory, before seeing Skull frowning as well. “Well, when we go to Volterra, you’ll be able to drink from other humans, since there’s going to be most undoubtedly a tour group arriving sometime during our stay there.” 

Reborn looked at Skull uneasily, “A tour group?” “Yeah, I mean, it is in the laws that hunting in Volterra is strictly forbidden, and that their food is brought in from outside the town, so how else do you think the Volturi feed?” Skull asked rhetorically, smiling humorously at Reborn’s question, only … Reborn didn’t think what he was asking was funny. 

“ … I guess I … hadn’t really thought on that, but I didn’t expect -” Reborn cut himself off as he felt Skull’s hand over his, and he looked at the Cloud questionably. “It’s pretty frightening to realize that this is your niche now, huh? Believe me, I know,” Skull said softly. “For the longest time, I’ve been a freak, looking at people and wondering how they’d taste, their blood. Would they make a good meal for my family? What would these specific Flames taste like, make the blood taste like? Things like that … It’s scary to think, you’ll lose sight of seeing  _ people _ , only seeing  _ food _ after a while. Even while I’m a human, I still very much a … a freak of one, of a human, and … I still get it, how badly your reality is being flipped, but it’s going to get better. It’s not going to be right now, but it’ll be when you’ve drunk from more humans. You’ll adjust and find it really is a sweeter taste, this life, compared to your old one.” 

Reborn looked at Skull, who was smiling a strained smile at the fledgling. “ … Do you miss who you were before?” Reborn’s question made Skull pause, before the Cloud gave a shrug, saying as he pet Leon with his other hand, still holding onto Reborn’s, “Before? Before was a horrible time, and often you’d be lucky if you survived into the next day, at the very least. The only good that ever came out “before” for me was my mother, but she died.” Reborn’s voice was soft as he asked, “What about your father?” “ … Dead.” Skull’s voice had gone bitter when he said this, causing for Reborn to wonder, but he didn’t ask. This was a sore subject for Skull, he was starting to see. 

Deciding that switching over to a different subject would be best, Reborn asked, “You said that vampires have mates, so … have any in the Volturi … have  _ you  _ ever come across … yours?” What an odd question. Reborn pulled his hand away from Skull’s, just now realizing how long he let the Cloud hold it.  _ He didn’t want to be the one comforted, he wanted …  _

“Any in the Volturi? Yeah, but me? Nah,” Skull said, leaning back on his hands as he gave a light laugh. “I wouldn’t even know if I was staring my mate right in their face!” Reborn grew curious over hearing that, “Really? Why?” 

Skull gave a shrug, “I’m human, and my mate would be a vampire for us to find one another. Yeah, there’s always the  _ really  _ off chance they’re a Child of the Moon, but doubtful. See, from what I was told, a mate is …  _ indescribable _ in having. They’re a person you’ll find attractive, yeah, but when you grow close to them? You’ll … feel yourself unable to pull away, that is, if you want to, which … you’ll have no desire to. They’ll be your everything, and you’ll be theirs. But that’s the downside to mates, too, because … I … I’ve seen the devastation when a vampire loses their mate, and it - it’s not …” Skull closed his eyes, “Like I said, it’s indescribable. But as I also said, I won’t know, because I’m human, and so can’t feel the bond as good as my mate - if by some miracle they’re a vampire - will. Who knows? I could’ve passed my soulmate by for all the days I’ve been alive without even knowing, and they could’ve gone on with their life, never knowing me, never realizing how long I -” 

Skull abruptly stopped talking. Reborn didn’t know what exactly to say to that, considering  _ he shouldn’t have asked _ . Of course this would also be a sensitive topic for Skull! Of course it would be, considering how Skull must’ve seen so much, having been raised with vampires, and so must’ve … 

 

… Skull must’ve missed so much, not being able to be a vampire, but like Hell was Reborn going to ask about  _ that _ , why Skull wasn’t, wasn’t a vampire. He wasn’t going to go for a strike three in sensitive and sore subjects for Skull! 

 

Leon nuzzled his hand, and Reborn smiled down at his Flame familiar, who smiled back up at him. Reborn frowned as he thought of something, and so asked Skull, looking at the Cloud, “Will we be testing my Flames soon?” 

Skull looked at Reborn sharply, before frowning contemplatively, looking at the downed deer. “I mean, why not? We could … test them out on this deer? It’s dead, so no harm should come from testing your Flames on it.” 

Reborn didn’t know whether to be relieved or not over hearing that, considering he didn’t know what his Flames would do now that they were “Twisted”. 

“Alright,” Reborn said, looking over at the deer now. He took an unnecessary “breath”, raising his hand to the dead deer’s hide, feeling for his Flames and willing them to the surface.

 

What came next, neither expected. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I literally just copied and pasted the Volturi laws from the official wikia to here, considering I'd still have typed it out exactly. Now, regarding Skull's gravitational manipulation and cellular reproduction/body reconstruction ... seriously? XD I'm a fan of unconventional, and Skull is pretty unconventional, don't you think? 
> 
> Cloud Flames have the special characteristic of Propagation, multiplication, as we know, but what exactly does this mean? To me, that means ANYTHING is in the range of being Propagated, multiplied by Cloud Flames, and while yes, it could be taken as an OP sort of thing, let me explain clearly regarding Skull's "gift's" applications. For the easier to explain "cellular reproduction/body reconstruction", I had thought it a good way to explain why he's the "Immortal Stuntman", because his Flames Propagate his cells, which is what keeps him alive. With the self-mutilation thing ... 
> 
> I really like Corma Limbs from Cirque du Freak, okay? When she regenerated her arm, that was what I was imagining when Skull's finger regenerated. 
> 
> With the gravitational manipulation, that was something I toyed with even before this story. After witnessing Enma's use of his Earth Flames to manipulate gravity, the idea became all the more appealing as Enma's Flames made things move, whereas in the counter, the idea for Skull's Flames in their gravitation manipulation was that he forced things DOWN. I dunno, I've always like how Skull and Enma interacted, so it just made sense to me, this idea. And it would've been a really good unconventional use of Flames, which KHR admittedly disappointed me in, as there was just so much that could've been done outside the standards ... 
> 
> Anyways, like I keep on about, if you've spotted any grammatical errors, please let me know! ^^ ^W^' And I can't apologize enough for how rushed there at the end the chapter seemed ... I really could've done better ...


	7. Testing, Testing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... I ... can't actually think of anything else to say other than that I'm very, very sorry for my unintentional hiatus!  <~>' I could say my personal life got in the way of my writing, but really, it's that I need to prioritize better. Either way, I'll be updating my stories, ALL of my stories, now that I'm back on ao3! So, with that being said, I hope you all enjoy chapter 7 of L'ora Delle Straghe, "Testing, Testing"! 
> 
> Also, like always, please tell me if you've stopped any grammatical errors, as I don't want any bad grammar to take away from the focus of the story I'm telling!

What would’ve taken years for the once-cooling corpse of the deer to decay into the earth only took a mere few seconds to a minute as Flames, what used to be a bright topaz in color, now a dark amber yellow, engulfed the deer whole, the body mass decreasing down into nothing but a mound of grass and flowers. 

 

Both stared, uncomprehending at what they’d just seen, before it was Reborn that broke the silence, saying, “Well … I can honestly say I’m glad I didn’t try reattaching your finger before seeing it grow back …” Skull nodded wordlessly, staring in awe at the now mound of newly grown grass and flowers. 

Reborn looked from what used to be the deer carcass to look at Skull, asking him, “Is this normal for to see with the other Flames-using vampires?” Skull snapped to attention, looking over at Reborn and saying, “Uh, n-not exactly. This is … pretty unprecedented, actually.”

“ _Unprecedented_ ?” Reborn questioned, feeling rather nervous hearing that, wondering how could that be? Skull had said it himself, there were other vampires with Flames, so surely, surely that meant what his now Twisted Flames had done _wasn’t_ an unprecedented case?

 

_Right?!_

 

“Unprecedented, yeah,” Skull said, frowning as he tried thinking of what Reborn’s Twisted Flames meant. “Maybe … Maybe it’s because you’re a hitman?” Skull said, looking a bit uncertain about what he just said. 

“What?” Reborn deadpan asked. “Well, it’s the only answer I can think of, why your Flames did what they did!” Skull said defensively, huffing. “Other vampires with Twisted Sun Flames never did _this_ ,” Skull gestured to the once-deer. “They’re either speedsters or really great healers, searing wounds close, but never aging things to the point of being in a state of being which would take years on end to get to!” 

“Well isn’t that fucking nice?!” Reborn spat, his eyes gleaming. The burning in his throat, what had been idle for the time being before now, was now making its presence known as Reborn felt his anger spiking. “So, what?! I can kill people with a touch?!”

“Yeah, I guess?” Skull said, shrugging. Reborn’s eye twitched as he gritted his teeth, and he said rather darkly, “Well, isn’t that great? I’m on the same scale as a young, inexperienced human Sun Flames-user, only worse!” Reborn felt Leon nudging his fingers, trying to reassure him. He sighed, petting Leon’s spine with a finger as he calmed down, though the burning in his throat wasn’t helping.

 

“… I’m sorry,” Skull said after a moment’s quiet, sad as he knew how badly it affected Reborn, the man always having been proud of his Flames. “I really don’t know, Reborn, and I’m sorry that I don’t.” Reborn looked at Skull, frowning, feeling somewhat guilty, as Skull was helping, no “try” about it. “No, it’s - it’s not your fault, Skull. It’s just frustrating to think about.” “Because your flames are a big part of who you are,” Skull said softly. “Yes. Yes, they are,” Reborn replied, picking Leon up and placing him on his shoulder. Leon curled up there, making a content little reptile noise as his Sun was calmed down now. 

“Hmm, I honestly thought my Flames were a curse,” Skull said, surprising Reborn. Before he could ask what Skull meant by that - _as because how could someone consider the physical manifestation of their_ **soul** _a curse?!_ -, did the low grumble of a hungry stomach interrupt. 

 

Skull’s face rivaled that of a ripe tomato in the shade of red Skull was blushing as the mortification of his stomach’s voicing its hunger set in. Reborn smirked, “Hmm~, what did you say~?” Skull covered his face with his hands as he exclaimed, “Shut up, Senpai!” 

 

As Skull’s stomach grumbled again, Reborn chuckled, getting up off of the forest floor, Skull doing so as well with his face still a very intense shade of red. Reborn blinked as he felt venom pooling in his mouth at the sight, but it did make sense, as after all, he was hungry for blood, and he did suppose his venom acted as his body’s saliva, considering vampire bites and all that.

“But it does make sense. We’ve been out here for a good while, and I don’t recall you eating anything back at your apartment, either, Lackey,” Reborn said as the two walked back to their campsite, Reborn’s voice a bit dark as he didn’t like the thought of Skull willingly forgoing eating when he didn’t have to. Skull pouted, averting his gaze to the side as he scratched his less red yet still very flushed tattooed cheek, saying, “I guess it just slipped my mind?”

Reborn deadpanned, “It slipped your mind, your body’s need for food?” “W-Well, with everything that’s been happening, kind of easy to forget to eat!” Skull defended himself. Reborn could concede to that, considering the events so far had been exciting, albeit in a very unfortunate way considering the seriousness of the situation at hand. 

“Alright, you have a fair point there, but you have better have something for you to eat in that duffel of yours, Skull, because I won’t drink your blood until I see that you’ve eaten something,” Reborn told him just as they reached their campsite. Skull smiled slightly at that, as Reborn was being concerned about him, what he kind of liked. It was a pleasant difference to how the man treated him before Reborn became a vampire, and that did make Skull wonder slightly why that was?

 

_Oh, if only he knew!_

 

“Alright, and yeah, I do have something in my duffel,” Skull said before breaking away from Reborn and going over to get his duffel bag. When he got it, he then unzipped a pocket on the bag and pulled out a medium-sized Ziplock bag of trail mix, a medium-sized Ziplock bag with three cookies in them, and a water bottle, too.

Reborn raised a brow when he walked over to where Skull was, Leon now off of his shoulder and curled in his hand before Reborn placed his familiar down on the ground, Leon skittering over to Skull’s duffel, climbing onto it and curling up there for a nap. Skull snorted in humor at Leon, finding it somewhat interesting how the little Flames chameleon was so sleepy recently. Was it just his seeking warmth as he settled with his new being, or something else? Skull was really wanting to find out, but that could wait until later.

“Why the cookies?” Reborn asked. “Because they’re good as a fast source of sugar-slash-carbohydrates, what helps in keeping my blood sugar up!” Skull explained. “They’re also really good,” Skull went on to say, smiling as he got one out and took a bite from it, humming merrily. 

Reborn smirked upon hearing that. “I forget sometimes, you really do love sweets, don’t you?” “Mm, yeah, I guess. I mean, I’ve always liked naturally sweet stuff like fruit and honey,” Skull said after swallowing down the bite of cookie he had taken and ate. “Hmm, that explains a bit, then, on why you would get so much fruit whenever we had to go shopping for groceries back then,” Reborn said. 

 

Skull laughed nervously before drinking down some of his water and then going for his trail mix. Reborn smirked as he watched Skull eat the mix of nuts and dried fruit for a few brief minutes before looking away, confused as to why his instincts were _purring_ so contently at the sight of Skull eating. _‘Would a vampire really care if the human they’re about to drink from eats?’_ Reborn questioned before shaking the thought off with an answer of he just knew Skull for the longest time, of course he’d want to make sure Skull ate something, especially when Skull would soon be drained somewhat of his blood! 

 

“Okay, done eating,” Skull said to Reborn when he was done eating, Skull re-zipping the Ziplock bags and screwing the lid back on the water bottle before storing the two bags and one bottle back into his duffel, careful to not dislodge Leon from the bag as Skull got to the pocket he pulled both bags and bottle from. 

Looking over his shoulder to look at Reborn, he saw that the man had moved closer, to where Reborn was literally standing right behind him. “Thirsty?” Skull teased as he saw the gleam in the vampire’s darkened eyes, the color not anywhere near the black pitch that usually indicated a vampire hungry for blood, but dark enough to let Skull know waiting any longer wouldn’t be ideal. 

“Yes,” Reborn replied as he looped his arms around Skull’s waist, pulling him backwards to where Skull was pressed up against his chest. Skull turned in Reborn hold, the two now flush against one another’s chest, and said as he tilted his head as to give Reborn better access to his neck, “Then drink up.” 

 

Reborn didn’t need any further prompting now that he had that permission from Skull, what he wanted and what he felt he needed before diving right in, his teeth sinking into the flesh of Skull’s neck a tad gentler than the first time he drank directly from Skull. Reborn found himself back in that state of utter ecstasy he’d first found himself at back at Skull’s apartment when he first tasted the _divinity_ tasting blood that was once again sweeping over his tongue. He continued taking his gulps greedily, wanting more, more, _and more_ , but more than that, _he wanted more of Skull_. 

He tightened his grip on Skull’s waist, feeling Skull’s fingers in his hair, running them soothingly through the strands, even daring to go near his sideburn this time! Reborn growled against Skull’s throat for that, what had Skull muttering an apology that was insincere as Skull was wearing a rather unapologetic smile, what had Reborn deciding to be mischievous in paying Skull back for as he pulled back some, letting the blood flow a thin stream down Skull’s neck for a minute or so before he dived right back in, this time licking Skull’s neck, remembering how Skull had whined when he did this the first time. 

Skull was whining just like before, his grip on both Reborn’s hair and the shoulder he laid his other hand down on tightening, Skull shivering at the odd sensation Reborn’s licking his neck was making him feel. “Okay, okay, lesson learned!” Skull said, having had enough of that. He tugged at Reborn’s hair lightly, saying pleadingly, “C’mon, please quit it already, Senpai!” 

 

Reborn smirked as he pulled away from Skull's neck, moving an arm away from Skull’s waist and lifting that hand up to Skull’s chin, making him look at him as he tilted Skull’s head as so they were looking at one another eye-to-eye. “I would, but then I wouldn’t be satisfied,” Reborn said, causing Skull’s eyes to widen in surprise as Reborn leaned in, looking like he was about to kiss Skull, but Reborn instead ducked his head just as there were only a few inches between his and Skull’s lips, Reborn going back to drinking from Skull’s neck, but instead of sinking his teeth back into Skull’s neck, he merely sucked. 

 

Skull gasped as he realized what Reborn was doing, although it was also what Reborn was doing that made him gasp, the realization actually not needed. “Are - A-Are you f-fucking kidding me right now?!” Skull snapped, although his breathing was becoming labored as not only did he lose quite a bit of blood this round to Reborn, but also because of the sensations he was feeling from what Reborn was doing to him. “Th-That’s a call for war, Reborn, war!”

Reborn finally pulled back, licking his lips as blood dripped from his mouth, and he smirked as he eyed the _hickey_ that he made on Skull’s neck, watching as the _large_ bruise-like mark stayed while the teeth marks in Skull’s neck surrounding the hickey healed over. 

The glare Reborn was receiving from Skull had Reborn smirking wider. “I regret _nothing_ ,” Reborn said, not caring that he sounded rather childish as he said that. Skull’s eye twitched, and he reminded Reborn that he still had a grip on his hair when Skull jerked his head back, what Reborn realized had been far too hard and fast for a human to be able to withstand without some injury. 

 

“A vampire’s body can put itself back together, but the process is _very_ **slow** and can take even slower if not all the pieces are in the same area. I’d be oh so happy to demonstrate to you right now with your head if you’d like?!” Skull said, his eyes flashing. Reborn felt he might have gone a bit too far. “No, that’s alright,” Reborn said, releasing his grip on Skull, placing a hand on the hand in his hair, trying to pry it off gently as although he’d rather not go through such an experience, he knew he had to, but he’d rather lose, like, a finger or something other than his head! 

 

“Hmm, if you’re sure,” Skull said rather dryly, easing up on his grip. Reborn sighed a mental sigh of relief at that before moving his hand off of Skull’s, Skull dropping his hands both from Reborn’s body immediately after. 

“I am, but I did want to actually ask you about that,” Reborn said, watching curiously as Skull moved away from him. “I wanted to know what exactly we’ll be doing for training?” “Well, you’ve had a history lesson, albeit a brief lesson, and we saw what went down with your Flames, now we only need to test the raw strength of your - well, your strength, speed, and just as well, see how strong your blood lust is,” Skull answered, and Reborn narrowed his eyes as he saw Skull going into _his bag_ , unzipping it. “I wouldn’t have gone and done this test just right after you ate, but you kind of declared war, so~!”

“Skull, _what do you think you’re doing_?” Reborn demanded. Skull only smiled far too innocently as he looked at Reborn, all the while reaching into the bag and looking for something blindly in it. “Nothing, just getting a certain something~. It’s always good to have incentive for this kind of thing, Senpai, y’know?” Skull laughed. He then looked triumphant as he grabbed hold of something, what had Reborn feeling uneasy as he felt he knew what it was Skull had been searching for.

“You seriously won’t believe how many fledglings actually _don’t_ like this test we’ll be doing! I mean, okay, we already took care of your bloodlust and all with satisfying your hunger like, not even a minute ago, but I’m fairly sure that _this_ ,” Skull pulled out, _yep_ , Reborn;s beloved fedora from the bag, “will be the perfect incentive for you to come at me with the intent to kill!”

“Oh, Lackey, I’m not going to kill you,” Reborn said, taking a threatening step forward as he glared rather darkly at Skull. “I’m just going to make your punishment worse if you don’t put my fedora back in the bag _now_!” He spat, his eyes flaring the dark amber yellow of his Twisted Flames. 

Skull’s grin at Reborn’s words were unsettling. “You’d have to catch me first, Senpai~,” Skull said before darting off into the woods the two had come out of not too long ago. Reborn would admit he was surprised by the way Skull ran so fast, but that would only be later when he didn’t _have a stupid Lackey to hunt down and punish_.

_‘You’d better be damn prepared to be punished when I get my hands on you, Skull!’_ Reborn thought angrily as he chased after, snarling. He did wonder something though as he chased after the madly cackling Cloud. 

 

Why was it his instincts purred so happily when he marked Skull?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Yeah, it wasn't the best, but then again, it could've been worse, too. And sorry for it being later than the promised end of the week, but hey, I updated at midnight so counts, right?! But the scene that took me the longest time in writing was Reborn's drinking Skull's blood for the second time, as I want to make Reborn's drinking Skull's blood intimate on a level but not too intimate, as I don't want to rush things, even when I know things are going to get rushed soon anyways, and the rewrite of this chapter took me ages before I got satisfied with what I finally wrote (and didn't help either that my Internet was being difficult, making me lose my work ...)! As you also saw when reading this chapter though, Reborn's instincts are becoming more "forefront" the more time goes on with Reborn's being alone with Skull. The two are in a sort of limbo, where they aren't moving as forward as the vampire in Reborn would like, but there's still enough intimacy happening between the two where the vampire isn't being all possessive, which is helped along by their being the only two in the area, human and vampire-wise. 
> 
> Do keep in mind that Reborn now has two different sets of instincts, the first being his Sun Flames-user instincts, and the second set his vampire instincts. This will be important later on for multiple reasons. 
> 
> Well, now that that's said, I wonder how that chase is going to go down, hmm~? ^^ X) Even I'm excited for what comes next, and I'm the one writing this!


	8. Realizations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title is misleading. Reborn is going to be dense for a few more chapters regarding his and Skull's being the other's mate. Sorry. 
> 
> Remember last chapter how I said in the end notes that Reborn has two sets of instincts, his Sun Flames instincts and now his vampire instincts? 
> 
> ^w^ Pertinent to this chapter.
> 
> Also ... T^T I AM SO SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO GET THE NEXT CHAPTER OUT! I had my final projects to stress out over and hurry to get done with little room for much of anything else big that I wanted to work on, and then the final exams for my summer semester just last week, and then the stress of THAT had me sick all weekend! T^T I cannot apologize enough for not updating my stories like I said I would this month, I'm so sorry i broke ANOTHER promise! T^T T^T T^T T^T As it is, I'm going to be posting as much as possible during intersession before Fall semester starts, but please try to be patient with me if I don't get anything up too soon! And yet another thing ... WHY AM I SO BAD AT WRITING FIGHT SCENES?! Well, I do have a reason for why Skull will be going so "soft" on Reborn when they fight in this chapter, but the answer will have to wait until chapter ... huh, eleven, I believe. Anyways, please enjoy chapter eight!!!
> 
> As always, please let me know if you spot a grammatical error and let me know where! Thanks! ^^
> 
> AND PLEASE DO READ THE END NOTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reborn didn’t know how long he had chased Skull for, and nor did he care, too focused on catching Skull _and punishing him when he caught him_! 

How _DARE_ Skull use his fedora as incentive to give chase?! Reborn would be teaching him quite the lesson about touching and taking the precious possessions of people once he caught Skull, although now that he thought about, Skull was … slowing down his running? 

“Ha, that was fun!” Skull said, grinning widely as he looked back at Reborn, causing Reborn to growl low as _what was Skull doing_ ?! Didn’t he realize he was going to be punished severely for what he’d done? But Skull wasn’t running anymore, which Reborn did chalk up to his being out of breath as Skull’s breathing did seem somewhat labored, but Skull _was still grinning_.

 

“You really shouldn’t have done that, Lackey,” Reborn said darkly as he walked forward, intent on _what he didn’t exactly know, just teaching his m -_

Reborn stilled as his instincts … _snickered at him_? What was he thinking just now?

 

“And what exactly can you do to me, Reborn?” Skull said, snorting in amusement. “We’ve already established I know how to manipulate a person’s gravity. Do you really think I’d be so reckless as to _not_ use one of my greater abilities in a fight against a vampire? _You especially?_ Please. But seriously, do tell~, I am curious as to what the demon wants you to do to me.” 

That made Reborn pause, as _what_ ? “Demon?” Reborn voiced his curiosity. “Demon,” Skull repeated the word, smirking now. “The demon is a vampire’s instincts, basically your base-most instincts only heightened. A vampire can hold quite the grudge, y’know? Because they’re - _you_ are a territorial creature. Kind of like an animal but worse. So, tell me how you want to punish me _and then try_.”

Reborn growled, disregarding the warning bells ringing in his mind as he rushed forward at Skull, only for Skull pull back before slamming his foot into Reborn’s knee, and then kicking Reborn in the jaw as he kicked upwards. Reborn stumbled back, surprised. He didn’t think Skull would do that, _be able to do that_ , as doesn’t vampire trump human in a fight easily?  Then how was Skull able to knock him back _so easily_? 

Skull smiled mock-innocently, saying as he lowered his leg, “My Flames reinforce my body for many things. Speed, strength, and including my little gravity power.” Skull’s eyes then flashed as he gave out a low growl, he being the one to rush forward now, only when Reborn went to grab hold of Skull, only for Skull to duck under his hand and elbow him in the gut, and though Reborn didn’t feel the ache that would normally come from receiving a jab to the gut thanks to his being a vampire, the trade-off was him feeling something _crack_. 

Skull then struck upwards, getting him in the jaw again with that arm’s fist. Reborn swiped at Skull’s arm, catching Skull’s other arm when Skull tried striking out with that appendage. Reborn took his fedora back from Skull, the Cloud having had such a good grip on it while fighting with him, Reborn decided to be a bit lenient on Skull in punishing him, only a bit. “You’re caught, Lackey,” Reborn said, smirking darkly as he re-hatted his head with his fedora. “Ready to be punished?” 

“Nope,” Skull said, he smirking as brought his feet up and slammed them against Reborn’s chest, making sure to kick right where he jabbed his elbow earlier, further cracking Reborn’s body. Reborn was startled, releasing Skull in his being startled, and Skull made sure to put some distance between him and Reborn, knowing what will be coming next won’t be so pretty.

 

_He’s seen it enough times to know that it won’t be pretty._

 

Reborn placed a hand on the part of his abdomen Skull _kicked in_ , the skin and flesh broken under Reborn’s shirt, a jagged-edged medium sized hole filling in slowly as Reborn could feel the pieces that broke off _crawling out_.

 

“That is -” Reborn didn’t know what to think about this, actually, only knowing that _this was so wrong_ . That’s just _so wrong_ to feel pieces of yourself inside you, trying to _crawl back out_ to meld back in with where they originated from. 

 

Looking at Skull, Reborn saw that Skull was looking rather apologetic. “Well, at least you know where your pieces are?” Skull offered sheepishly. Reborn’s eye twitch and Skull winced, reluctantly walking over. Even with Reborn still most likely mad at him - which, alright, Skull figured he did deserve that, Reborn’s being angry at him, as he did take a very precious possession from Reborn partly to test him but also because Skull was still pissed off about the hickey - did Skull know that it was better he help now than leave it be to correct itself, the hole he made in Reborn’s abdomen.

Reborn looked at him warily, flecks of dark gold in his eyes as he was still pissed off at Skull for taking his fedora, but was even angrier now because of Skull caving in pieces of his skin and flesh!

 

He’d wait to see what Skull would do, but _oh_ , Skull would do well to watch himself after the punishment he’ll get …

 

"Um … O-Okay, so I guess they're trying to get out, the pieces that I, uh, heh, kicked in?" Skull smiled rather tensely. " _Yes_ ," Reborn hissed. "Well … I … I can help get them out?" Skull offered. 

Reborn deadpanned at Skull, "Lackey, you aren't sticking your hand inside my body." Skull went from nervous to huffy. "Well how else am are they supposed to get out unless by themselves?! Plus, it would take forever for the pieces to crawl out due to gravity!" 

"I can't believe this is even a discussion we're having right now," Reborn said, a bit of a groan in his voice. "Skull, _no_ . I can do that myself, just tell me how to fix the hole so I can _make you pay_." Skull swallowed at the dark promise of punishment and then sighed. "Basically? Venom acts like a glue to broken pieces. Just slap on some venomous saliva on the edges of the pieces and reattach. But seriously, you're going to need an extra hand in keeping them steady when fixing your body back up." Skull said. 

Reborn glowered before relenting. He didn't know how steady he could hold pieces of himself as he re-glued them … and that was just something he never thought he'd ever actually say let alone think! 

“Fine,” he said, though his voice was little more than a hiss. “Cool,” Skull said, smiling nervously. 

 

* * *

 

Getting the pieces out of Reborn’s body wasn’t as tricky a procedure as either man thought, not as much as it was piecing them back into where they got kicked in was. To say that Reborn was surprised as how well of a glue the venom he now possessed held was an understatement, but he was glad all the same because it meant that now, _now Reborn could punish his Lackey_. 

“Well, now that that’s taken care of …” Reborn said as he then looked at Skull, Reborn’s eyes glaring rather menacingly, causing the Cloud to swallow nervously as he backed away from Reborn, although he wasn’t as far as he would’ve liked considering he did hold the pieces together when they were re-gluing Reborn’s body back together. “C-Can’t we talk about?” Skull asked, smiling nervously. 

“No,” Reborn answered, his voice like a growl as he stalked forward, only to rush at Skull at a supernatural speed, Skull’   

"H-Hey, what're you -" Skull yelped as he was slung over Reborn's shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Reborn smirked rather darkly as he turned right around, Skull becoming dazed as that was a rather sharp twist on his heel Reborn twisted! Reborn began walking back towards the campsite with Skull on his shoulder, knowing it was rather futile to struggle as with Reborn's being a vampire and it only being a few hours off from a full first day of being a vampire, sundown soon approaching, well … 

Reborn tightened his grip on Skull's waist as he sped forward, running at a break-neck pace. Skull let our a short scream as though he was used to running at such speeds, riding slung over someone's shoulder and not being able to look forward to see if was going to hit anything is pretty fucking terrifying! 

Reborn let out a laugh as he heard Skull's short scream, and the jumps over tree roots and rocks alike were cause of even greater entertainment as Skull reached and grabbed the back of his shirt, pressing down on Reborn's shoulder and the curve of his arm where Reborn held Skull with. 

When they made it back to the campsite, Skull was trembling, his eyes wide as he clung to the back of Reborn's shirt, and Reborn had to awkwardly pry his fingers off before dumping Skull onto the ground, where Skull looked positively ecstatic to be back on! 

Reborn raised a brow at the comical sight of Skull practically hugging the ground, and he said, "Aren't you an adrenaline junkie? You're being pathetic, Lackey!" 

"As much of an adrenaline junkie as I am, I do _not_ like being handled like I'm some sack of potatoes, _Sunny_." Came Skull's retort. Reborn's eye twitched. "You just didn't …" "I did and I don't regret it!" Skull snapped as he looked up at Reborn, the vampire standing over him quite literally. 

"Oh, Lackey, Lackey, _Lackey_. I was going to let you off easy, considering you did help in patching me up, but you just had to cross yet another line," Reborn said darkly before grabbing hold of Skull's jacket, tugging him up. Skull yelped and protested as he got dragged up, only to stop talking as he saw the look in Reborn's eyes. 

 

That look promised torture. _Yay_. 

 

"What - What are you going to do?" Skull asked fearfully. "Well …" Reborn began before realizing he hadn't actually thought about what he'd do. Now that he was thinking about it, what _could_ he do? Skull, for all that he was over a thousand years old, was _still human_ , and Reborn knew that if he were to punish Skull like how he usually did in the past, that wouldn't go over well for him, though then again, if or better said _when_ Skull's family hears about _that_ … 

 

Well, digressing from the story. Reborn was at a loss only for a moment on what he could do when it struck him, how he could punish Skull! 

 

"Acting like an immature brat, taking what doesn't belong to you and then running off! Oh, Skull, if you're going to act like an immature brat, you'll be disciplined like an immature brat!" Reborn said, pulling Skull along, and Skull stumbled a bit as Reborn still had a grip on the back of his jacket. 

Reborn tossed Skull onto the Cloud's duffel, Leon having moved off of it while the two were in that clearing and the Flames familiar now sleeping atop Reborn's bag, as he kind of figured Reborn would go this route. 

 

Guess he owed Oodako that fish now. Damn! And he'd been so looking forward to those crickets that Oodako placed the bet on, too! 

 

“Wait, what are -” Skull began to say, trying to get up off of his duffel only to find that hard to do as he felt a hand at either side of his body, _underneath his shirt_ , keeping him still. Skull’s eyes widened as he felt Reborn’s presence at his back, leaning in at such an angle that it would be difficult to escape without getting pinned fully down. 

It was when Reborn began _tickling his sides_ that Skull began struggling.“S-Stop, stop!” Skull cried, trying to get away from the tickling hands as Reborn chuckled in his ear. “No, I don’t think so,” Reborn said, smirking as he fastened his pace, his fingers dancing along Skull’s skin and making it hard for Skull to breath as he laughed hard, Skull beginning to feel the onslaught of Reborn’s tickle-torture! 

“P-Please, mercy, mercy!” Skull begged as he laughed. Reborn’s smirk grew into a lopsided grin as he moved his hands up, causing tears to fill Skull’s eyes as the Cloud continued laughing as Reborn tickled his way up to Skull’s ribs. “Sorry, all out of mercy,” Reborn said, taking a hand away for a brief moment to push Skull’s shirt up to about his armpits before going back to tickling Skull with both hands. Reborn then moved his hands back down to Skull’s sides, going for Skull’s stomach, tickling there. 

Skull felt an uncomfortable tightening in his stomach as he found it harder and harder to breathe as he continued being tickled as his punishment, and it only got worse when Reborn began tickling his stomach, the vampire’s fingers sparking more treason in his nerve cells. Skull arched his back, trying to escape Reborn’s hands, only to knock against Reborn’s body. 

Reborn stilled when he felt Skull’s posterior against his * _ahem_ *, what sent a jolt through his otherwise dead system. He was now all too aware of the position they were in, with him practically on top of Skull, Skull trapped under him, practically sprawled along the bag! Reborn pulled his hands away and got off of Skull, putting a bit of distance between them as Skull got up off his duffel, his face flushed red with tears in his eyes and his breathing trying to steady out as he turned over to face Reborn, looking at him with one part of himself being in relief that the man was no longer tickle-torturing him, the other part of him curious as to why Reborn stopped. 

 

“You _did_ help put the pieces back together, and plus, you did make sure my fedora didn’t get damaged during the chase and fight both, so be glad I went light on you, Skull,” Reborn said, smirking. _Lies_ . He would’ve continued on tickling Skull had Skull not done … _that_. As it was, Reborn was greatly baffled as to why Skull brushing up against him had felt so …

 

He didn’t know. Reborn didn’t know how he felt and that was what was making him frustrated, but also scared, he would only admit to himself, because yes, it could’ve just been where Skull brushed up against, but it felt like there was something more Reborn just wasn’t getting. 

He hated that so much, not knowing something! Okay, some information he could live without, but information regarding what he felt had something so greatly to do with his being a vampire now? That was something he _really_ didn’t like not knowing over.

 

_Especially when it involved Skull._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So regarding the punishment ... Honestly, I was going to write Reborn being spanked by Reborn ... but that kind of went too far left into "no don't do that that's going past the line and we don't want to go across that line just yet." So yeah, tickling. 
> 
> Also, thoughts? ^^' I really hated how I wrote the fight scene because it was pretty shoddy in my opinion, not as violent as what the "Demon" trainer of the Volturi should be capable of pulling off. I really need to write better fight scenes TwT ... 
> 
> Anyways! We're not even up yet with the "week" that the two will be out getting Reborn up to speed on how to vampire, seriously still just the first day! So, here's a question for you all! ^^
> 
> What do you all want to see happening during their week of training?

**Author's Note:**

> If you have any questions regarding L’ora Delle Streghe, you can either Ask me or message me on my Tumblr at cmoon-rabbit4.


End file.
